Los Angeles has some of the worst traffic in the nation. But Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa believes he may now have the best solution to ease the burdening traffic problem.
City officials broke ground last week on what will become LA’s first freeway toll lanes, betting that drivers will be willing to pay significant sums just to avoid maddening rush-hour traffic.
Mayor Villaraigosa announced that Los Angeles will convert 25 miles of existing carpool lanes on the 10 and 110 freeways into high-occupancy toll lanes. Carpools and buses will be able to continue using those lanes for free, but solo drivers will pay a premium of up to $1.40 a mile during peak rush-hour traffic. Tolls will vary from 25 cents to $1.40 a mile depending on traffic. The more congested the freeway becomes, the higher the price will be so as to keep added cars from clogging the lanes. If the speed of traffic falls below 45 mph for more than 10 minutes, the lanes will be closed to solo drivers until speeds increase. At the maximum rate, drivers could pay nearly $20 to drive the 14-mile length of the 10 Freeway’s toll lane, but officials estimate the average user will pay only $6 per trip on the 10 and $4 per trip on the 110 during peak times.
For anyone who has ever been virtually parked on a LA freeway while needing to be somewhere important, this could be extremely good news, as the new toll lanes should permit them to breeze past stragglers stuck in traffic. But for those who are unable to afford the new premium, traffic will continue to remain a problem. That bothers Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles), who is totally against the new toll plan, saying it will create a “traffic system of haves and have-nots.” But in response to Rep. Waters and other critics who believe the toll lanes will discriminate against low-income drivers, the pilot program will offer a $25 discount on the $75 deposit required to set up a prepaid toll account for lane users whose household incomes are $35,000 or less.
