Drivers may soon have to dip into their wallets for the privilege of using the Los Angeles area's increasingly crowded car-pool lanes. Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members asked staffers last week to look into so-called congestion pricing, as a way to reduce traffic while raising funds for local transportation improvements. Other measures being considered include a truck-only toll lane on the Long Beach (710) Freeway and charging drivers for entering downtown Los Angeles during rush hour.
A similar program already in place in London, where drivers heading into the city center are charged the equivalent of $16 a day, is being examined as a possible model for future congestion pricing programs in Los Angeles, said MTA spokesman Marc Littman. "We are also looking at raising occupancy in car pools," said Littman, adding that the board has asked staff to prepare three options for congestion pricing programs by 2010. "For example, if there are three to four people in the vehicle, you can use the lanes for free.
If there are two, they pay a fee. And if you are a single driver, you would pay a higher fee." The board made its decision after the county missed out on a portion of $1.
2 billion in federal funds last month because it did not include congestion pricing in its transportation plan, said Michael Cano, transportation deputy for Supervisor Michael Antonovich. New York City, which is a finalist for the federal funds, recently announced a proposal to charge drivers entering Manhattan $8 per day. "The old formulas are not working anymore, and all signs are pointing to this being the future," said Cano, adding that Antonovich supported looking into congestion pricing as an MTA board member.
"The feds are going to start putting out more money for programs that include congestion pricing, and we miss out if we are not at the table." But not everybody is on board with the idea. Past polls have shown little support for toll lanes in Southern California, the land of the "freeway.
" And some groups are already complaining that such programs would lead to a form of double-taxation, since California residents already pay some of the country's highest gas taxes to help maintain and improve the state's highway system. "We are already paying enough (through taxes and transit fares)," said Jesse Trejo, a Covina retiree, while filling his gas tank at an Arco station on Vincent Avenue. "To charge someone to get from point A to point B just to use the car-pool lane, that's not right.
" Drivers may soon have to dip into their wallets for the privilege of using the Los Angeles area's increasingly crowded car-pool lanes.
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