The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Thursday set the tolls that for the first time will allow solo motorists to drive in carpool lanes on two of the region's most congested freeways.
Los Angeles' first experiment with so-called congestion-based pricing is slated to begin in late 2010 or early 2011.
The introduction of tolls on the 10 Freeway east of downtown Los Angeles and 110 Freeway south of downtown will mark a major departure for roads that generations of Californians have clung to as "freeways," even though toll roads already exist in several parts of the state. It is also a significant expansion of congestion pricing into the heart of the most freeway-crossed -- and traffic-jammed -- region of the nation.
Under the pricing schedule, solo motorists will pay 25 cents to $1.40 per mile to travel 14 miles of high-occupancy lanes on the east-west San Bernardino Freeway and 11 miles on the north-south Harbor Freeway.
As they do on tollways in neighboring Orange County, the MTA's tolls are designed to rise and fall in direct relation to traffic volume, so individual motorists, carpools, van pools and buses in the high-occupancy lanes can move at a minimum of 45 mph, even during rush hour.
According to the plan, 25 cents per mile would be charged when demand is lowest, while the maximum toll would be in effect during rush hour. If speed in the lanes falls below 45 mph, highway signs will warn other solo motorists not to enter the lanes until the flow of traffic accelerates.
Motorcycles and vehicles carrying more than one person will be able to continue using the lanes at no cost.
"There are something like a half dozen projects like this in the U.S. and about a dozen in the world," said Martin Wachs, a transportation expert at Rand Corp., a think tank based in Santa Monica. "We can virtually say this has worked 100% of the time.
The experience to date shows that this is one strategy for relieving congestion and raising revenue."
During public hearings on the plan, opponents argued that tolls were unfair to the poor, low-wage earners and people struggling financially because of the recession. But MTA officials decided to press ahead with the toll plan.
"Residents have raised concerns that freeways should be free," said Stephanie Wiggins, the executive officer of the project.
