Congresswoman to Congestion Pricing: Slow Down!

I had the occasion last week to chat with Congresswoman Hilda Solis (D-El Monte) about the plan to put toll lanes on the 10 and 210 freeways in the San Gabriel Valley.

  If you haven’t heard – that is, if you’ve been living under a rock – the plan is to convert the carpool lane on both freeways to toll lanes that will also feature express bus service.

Solis doesn’t like the plan, at least not yet. And she’s not alone. One of her colleagues – Rep. Gary Miller R-Diamond Bar) – has introduced a bill that stop the program, which he views as a form of double-taxation.

'“I think it’s going to push people off the freeway and they will find a way to get around the freeway and it’s just going to create more congestion,” Solis said. “Those kinds of things have to be talked about.”

Solis also expressed support for Miller’s bill, saying it’s not a threat but a “signal” to the MTA and Caltrans that she wants some details on how the lanes would be managed and what people would benefit and, in particular, how it would impact low-income constituents.

It’s hard to say if the Miller bill will get any traction. But it’s interesting that Solis – whose district includes parts of the 10 and 210 freeways – is not throwing her arms around congestion pricing, which has been embraced by many politicians to the west, such as L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

There’s an interesting rub here. Pols to the West aren’t happy that Solis and other San Gabe Valley pols are on one hand asking the MTA to fund an extension of the Gold Line light rail from Pasadena to Azusa while on the other hand possibly blocking congestion pricing.

Why? As part of the congestion pricing deal, the U.S. Department of Transportation is offering more than $200 million in funding for new buses and improvements to Metrolink in the San Gabe Valley.

“It wouldn’t make sense for us to fund the Gold Line at the same time that [some members of Congress] are trying to take money away from congestion pricing,” said Richard Katz, an MTA board member appointed by Villaraigosa. “That doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re going to oppose this chance to get $213 million, why should we support 80 million over there” for the Gold Line?

The Gold Line extension is an issue as ripe as they came. And it’s timely, too. I’ll be writing a lot about it here starting Monday.

--Steve Hymon

photo: Ken Hively / LAT

Comments

[GEAH]

I'm going to have to disagree with Albert Stroberg's plan to have all gasoline purchasers subsidize the purchase for other gasoline purchasers.

[BOB2]

Wow, Mayor Villaraigoza is still is into this "toll the carpool lane" fiasco? What is he thinking? This stupid Bush Adminstration proposal to charge people to drive in the already heavily used carpool lanes will certainely help raise oil usage and prices. Then we can vote the Mayor of Los Angeles out of office like the folks in London did, over London's idiotic congestion pricing scheme?. Oh, by the way, Hilda Solis was the one that when the two plus failure on the I-10 happened, took the initiative in changing it back, admitting she was wrong. Can you imagine what the world might come to if all of our leaders were able to do that? Thank you Hilda for you putting the needs of your constituents, ahead of being bribed by the Bush Administration to implement a stupid idea to toll carpool lanes.

[Richard H]

Hilda Solis?

The name rings a bell.

Oh, yes. Wasn't she the one that opened the El Monte Busway to 2 occupant cars in 1999? A dedicated busway that was opened to three person carpools in 1974. Hilda thought cars occupied by just two people should be allowed to use the El Monte Busway. Of course, this was just a two year "experiment".

The "experiment" was terminated after six months.

To quote wiki, "the actual number of people moved on the busway dropped, meaning that the lowered requirements did not attract new carpoolers. Instead, many carpoolers previously forced to triple up moved to two-person carpools, which increased the vehicle volume on the roadway and consequently resulted in severe congestion. As a result of the congestion, many individuals abandoned carpooling and decided to drive alone. Speeds on the busway dropped markedly from 65 mph before the experiment to 20 mph during the experiment, where speeds in the regular lanes did not change significantly (as a result of 2 person carpoolers moving to the busway), and actually dropped from 25 mph to 23 mph, paradoxically making the busway slower than the regular lanes. Accident rates on the busway increased significantly from zero in the six months before the experiment to five during the experiment. Travel times along the busway increased by 20-30 minutes in each direction, generating over 1,000 complaints to government agencies, and requiring Foothill Transit to hire more drivers and stage more buses to provide busway service."

Some transportation expert, that woman...

[Albert Stroberg]

This is just such a silly concept. Just raise the excise tax on gasoline ( not diesel) 10 or 15 cents/ gallon. The increased price would deter some driving - fixing some of the congestion, and even larger, produce a huge amount of money to fund transportation projects.
It doesn't need a new bureaucracy or complicated legislation. A good plan for spending the money seems like a good idea though. Maybe a short-term (3-6 mo) program for partial rebates to poor folk who need to get to work.