The land of the freeway is poised to become a little less free.
Los Angeles County transit leaders on Thursday agreed to develop plans for toll roads within the next three years, after decades of opposition to the concept of motorists paying tolls to use the roads.
The decision by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board comes amid criticism that Los Angeles has not joined other metropolitan areas around the nation in experimenting with "congestion pricing," in which motorists pay to use less crowded lanes.
Last month, L.A. County lost out on a major federal grant because it did not have any congestion pricing in the works.
London charges tolls to motorists who drive into the central city during rush hour, a practice New York City is now considering. Closer to home, Orange and San Diego counties have toll roads in which motorists pay for access to less-congested lanes. The toll fee rises based on the amount of traffic, allowing the toll lanes to keep flowing.
And this isn't pocket change: The toll on the 91 Express Lanes between Orange County and Riverside County approaches $10 eastbound during evening rush hour.
Traditionally, L.A. officials have been cool to congestion pricing, with critics calling it "Lexus Lanes" for the rich.
While Orange County officials have built a network of toll roads to address growing traffic, L.A. officials have invested much more heavily in rail and bus service.
But the county's worsening traffic -- and the need for more revenue for transit projects -- has changed some minds.
"At some point, we have to reduce the number of single-passenger automobiles if we want to reduce gridlock in L.A. County," Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Thursday.
Still, the idea of allowing solo motorists who pay a toll to use carpool lanes is already generating strong opposition from some commuters as well as auto advocacy groups.
"We feel it will be a form of double taxation to charge people for the roads they have already paid for by gas taxes," said Hamid Bahadori, principal transportation engineer for the Automobile Club of Southern California. "Rather than trying to restrict access, they had better start delivering on the projects."
Transportation experts said they were surprised that L.A.'s resistance to considering the concept dropped so quickly. They believe it probably was tied to recent revelations that federal officials passed over L.A. for transportation grants because the county's grant proposal had no congestion pricing component.
