![]() “Yes, we are hoping it will make a difference,” she said. Will the increase be enough to chase solo drivers back into general purpose lanes or ride the ExpressLanes earlier or later, or car-pool? “The current maximum price … does not appear to be enough of a disincentive for toll-paying customers to choose not to enter the ExpressLanes,” she wrote in a report to the board. Amiri couldn’t say exactly how much more solo commuters would pay, but said Metro only could raise peak tolls 30 cents more per year. The new pricing raises the maximum from $1.40 to $1.50 per mile but only on congested segments and not when delays are caused by roadwork or an accident. All the “HOV Only” incidents occurred during morning commute times, suggesting solo commuters were trying to get to work on time in downtown Los Angeles by traveling northbound on the 110 and westbound on the 10, Amiri explained. The ExpressLane overload occurred for 13,038 minutes (217 hours) in 2015 of those, 11,584 minutes were on the 110 ExpressLanes (at 108th Street to Gage Avenue and Slauson Avenue to 39th Street), and 1,454 minutes occurred on the 10 lanes in the San Gabriel Valley (between the 710 Freeway and Garvey Avenue). It is like bumper cars out there,” he said. “People know where the meters are and they pop in and pop out. ![]() Knabe said this will cause more ExpressLane users to veer into general purpose lanes. The Los Angeles Dodgers are working closely with Metro to ensure a high level of awareness for the Dodger Stadium Express. The Harbor Gateway uses the ExpressLanes on the 110 freeway to speed up trips to the stadium. However, all must buy a transponder from Metro for $40.) The Los Angeles Police Department ensures that the lanes remain dedicated for buses. (Car-poolers, motorcyclists and drivers of electric or plug-in electric vehicles with green or white stickers ride free. Less than 1 percent of more than 515,000 toll-lane users who have purchased transponders affixed to their windshields pay this amount, Amiri explained, because most exit the lanes to avoid higher tolls. When congestion occurs, speeds drop below 45 mph, causing the signs above to flash “HOV Only.” This means solo drivers will be charged maximum tolls, about $15.75 on the 110 and $15.55 on the 10. The more congested, the higher the toll.ĮxpressLanes on an 11-mile stretch of the 110 Freeway between the 91 Freeway and Adams Street near downtown Los Angeles are clogging up with solo drivers, as are the ExpressLanes on the 10 Freeway between the 605 Freeway and Alameda Street. “I think it is very convoluted.”ĭynamic pricing uses formulas that calculate the cost of a ride in real time, based on volume of cars and speed. “It is very Rube Goldberg in a lot of ways,” she said. Sheila Kuehl, who also sits on the Metro board and the Board of Supervisors, said she was against allowing solo drivers to ride the car-pool lanes by paying. I couldn’t tell you what it will be next Wednesday,” he said. “I use them a lot and there’s just no rhyme or reason to the pricing. ![]() He can’t explain the prices to those who call and complain. County Supervisor Don Knabe said the pricing schemes are confusing to commuters. Some board members were not convinced that tinkering with tolls will solve the problem, saying the toll amounts - and the algorithms used to calculate them - are the problem.
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