L.A. transportation officials approve letting solo drivers pay a toll to use carpool lanes

With no discussion, the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board today approved opening carpool lanes on the 10 and 110 freeways to solo motorists willing to pay a toll.

The charges will range from 25 cents per mile when traffic is light to $1.40 per mile during rush hours.

The idea is to use the so-called congestion-based pricing -- tolls that rise and fall in relation to the volume of traffic -- to keep individual motorists, carpools, van pools and buses in the high-occupancy lanes at a minimum speed of 45 mph, even during rush hour.

The demonstration project, which will be evaluated to see whether congestion is indeed reduced, has received a $210.6-million federal grant -- the largest of its type awarded to any city to date, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Caltrans and the MTA will convert existing carpool lanes to high-occupancy toll lanes on 14 miles of the 10 Freeway from Alameda Street to the 605 Freeway and on 11 miles of the 110 Freeway from Adams Boulevard to the Artesia Transit Center at 182nd Street.

A second toll lane will be added in both directions to the 10 Freeway. Plans also call for automated toll plazas, road improvements and additional transit services, including 57 clean-fuel buses that will operate along both highway corridors. The project, which is expected to create 7,000 jobs during construction, is scheduled to be completed by December 2010.

-- Dan Weikel

Comments

[Randalf Kincaid]

If it hasn't already been mentioned, why not lower the mileage necessary for hybrids et al. to use the lanes. I know it's is a Federal issue, but why not ask for an offset from the Feds as California lowers its emissions? Remember when the California mileage requirement was lower than the Fed standards, it was OK then, why not now? If, however, on the other hand, the issue is revenue, shouldn't the economic value of the decrease in emissions be balanced against the expected revenue from "toll" lanes?

[Whatever]

Just so you guys know, a "FREE"way is not called that because it is "FREE" of charge, but because it is "FREE" of conflicts (i.e. signals/stop signs). Congestion pricing is supposed to increase capacity on the freeways--believe it or not, van and buses and carpools zipping down an HOV/HOT lane carries more people on the lane per minute than other lanes with single drivers.

[Windfall]

This is a half good idea. Actually, all of the state's car pool lanes should be converted to toll lanes. If you have a good reason why you need to get somewhere in a timely fashion, you should be willing to pay for that service. If not, you can sit in traffic and travel the roads for free. Whether or not you have one, two or four people in your vehicle should have nothing to do with anything. You're still taking up the same amount of space on the freeway. Productive people, ready, willing and able to pay, should not be held back by less productive people.

[LA Driver]

Here's a thought....

Why not get the illegal aliens off (who have no driver's licence or insurance and don't pay their fair share) off the road.

Remember how good traffic was last May 1st when they were all protesting in Los Angeles?

I bet that will clear up the freeways!

[SamOverton]

Apparently, elitism is alive and well in Los Angeles. Those above who like this idea are symptomatic of the "me" mentality that infects too many of our communities. These folks forget, conveniently for them, that all road users, rich and not so rich, payed to build the highway. If these folks want exclusive use, they can build their own roads on private land. Any caring, community oriented driver will boycott the elitist lanes.

[martin]

dont we already have something similar to that in orange county on the 91?? hows that working out the 91 is as bad as ever during rush hour...build dedicated toll highways similar to what the 241 and 261 are