If L.A. moves forward with plans to allow toll-paying drivers into carpool lanes, the biggest loser may be the vast majority of drivers who don't -- or cannot afford to -- use them.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is drawing up plans that, by 2010, would implement "congestion pricing" in Los Angeles County -- allowing, for example, solo motorists to pay to use less-congested lanes.
But transit experts generally agree that adding toll drivers to carpool lanes would leave them in gridlock unless officials allowed only vehicles with three or more occupants to use the lanes free during peak hours (two occupants is the current standard for the vast majority of carpool lanes).
A study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments found that toughening the carpool requirement to three per car during rush hour would clear up the lanes but further jam the rest of the freeway.
That would mean that drivers who pay a toll or meet the three-plus requirement would roll through clearer traffic. But motorists in the other lanes -- including those no longer eligible for the carpool lanes -- could face even longer delays, said Hasan Ikhrata, SCAG's director of planning and policy.
The 2004 study found that converting a two-plus carpool lane into a three-plus lane would add 1.7 million commute hours a day for Southern California drivers because of increased congestion in the regular freeway lanes.
The MTA's effort to develop congestion pricing has won praise from some who see it as a novel way to improve traffic flow as well as criticism from those who consider it "Lexus Lanes" for the rich.
But MTA board member David Fleming said the SCAG study did not consider the impact of allowing toll-paying drivers in the lanes.
If the general freeway lanes become more congested because carpool requirements are toughened, Fleming said, commuters can always opt to pay a toll to access the faster lanes. That, he said, could free up regular traffic lanes.
"It's sort of like flying first-class on airlines -- it costs more money, but those who can afford it, let them pay," he said. "That means by letting people ride first-class, the people riding economy pay a lot less" for future freeway widening projects.
Fleming, who is also chairman of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce board, added that toll revenue could be used to expand freeways.
