Metro wants to test out their own brand of congestion pricing called ExpressLanes, which would allow solo drivers to access carpool lanes for a price. For one year, starting in December 2010, Metro will convert carpool lanes on the I-10 (El Monte Busway) and the I-110 (Harbor Freeway Transitway) freeways to toll lanes.
In one sense, you know congestion pricing if you've ever traveled northbound on the 15 freeway in northern San Diego County or the 91 in Orange County and used the express lanes where pricing is variable depending on the time of day you drive it.
A total of 5 members of the public showed up to last night's Metro congestion pricing, or fast lanes, meeting for the 10 and 110 freeways last night in South LA.
In today's city council session, there was a big discussion regarding congestion pricing on the 110 Freeway which would basically let non-hybrid solo car uses use the car pool lane for a price. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who voted for the measure (and it did pass), had a concern about the lanes because they bottleneck, in her opinion, due to the inability to get in and out of the lanes whenever people want to. She wants to look into their current effectiveness.
Averaging at just about $4.19 for a gallon of regular gas on Sunday in the Los Angeles area, prices continue to increase with an unknown end in site. The ripple effect is still unknown, but people are noticing some freeways thinning out and Metro is reporting record high numbers of ridership. Keeping all this in mind, the Daily News brings up some interesting figures:
Stout, Stout, Get it Worked Out!
Box Office Review: American Teens Are Morons
'Kick a Ginger Day' Spawned At Least 5 Attacks on Redheaded Kids
Intrepid L.A. Foodies Tackle 11-in-11 Nocturnal Challenge
Cool, Crafy, Community Event: Unique LA's Holiday Show
add to digg
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
tweet this
add to facebook