If this all sounds very complicated, it’s not. In addition, the Metro Board’s ad hoc congestion pricing committee is scheduled next week to consider a promotional effort that would allow commuters to get discounted transponders from AAA. Transponders keep traffic m-o-v-i-n-g.Īnd where do commuters get the transponders? As noted in this recent Metro staff report, “commuters will be able to receive a transponder by opening an account online, over the phone, or at walk-in centers.”. Toll booths, of course, stop traffic while the numbskull in front of you looks for change under his floor mat. There won’t be toll booths - just electronic devices at regular intervals on the freeway that determine when a vehicle should be charged a toll via its transponder. Why is this important? Because all vehicles must have a transponder to use the ExpressLanes. What exactly are transponders? They’re small, square devices that stick to the inside of a vehicle’s windshield and electronically track when vehicles must pay a toll. The second chart, shown above, lists the variety of fees that ExpressLanes may or may not encounter depending on how they pay (or - whoops! - don’t pay) for tolls. credit card users), it will cost $40 to open an ExpressLanes account and get a transponder, with the $40 going toward tolls. The real bottom line: for many commuters (i.e. The big takeaway from the chart is that it shows that as currently planned, Metro’s fees are in line with other regions that use transponders to track tolls. Please see the map and chart at the end of the post.Īs for the above chart, it shows the deposits, fees and minimum balances that Metro customers must pay to get transponders to use the lanes. There are also a number of other improvements planned.
All vehicles with two or more occupants will use the lanes for free. On the 110 freeway, the lanes will be from just south of downtown L.A.
Vehicles with three or more occupants will continue to use the lanes for free while vehicles with two occupants will pay a toll during peak hours but use the lanes free otherwise. On the 10, the ExpressLanes will begin just east of downtown Los Angeles and run to the 605 freeway. With two toll lanes in both directions, bus service will also be beefed up and should be quicker. The pilot program - funded mostly by the federal government - aims to increase speeds on the entire freeway in exchange for some motorists paying to use extra space in the toll lanes. The ExpressLanes project is converting carpool lanes on segments of the 10 and 110 freeways to congestion pricing lanes, also known as “HOT lanes” or “variable toll” lanes. Streetsblog on Thursday had a good post about these charts about transponder fees, so I also wanted to publish them here.įirst, the basics.
This is probably a bit premature, given that the ExpressLanes project has targeted opening dates of late 2012 for the 110 freeway segment and early 2013 for the 10 freeway.īut L.A.