Getting There from Here
By Ken Alpern
To be honest, I was as excited as I was skeptical about the potential of freeway toll roads in L.A. County.
 Freeways are supposed to be free, right? Of course, I also know that
the 91 Express Lanes I use once or twice a week when I travel to my
part-time clinic as a dermatologist in Riverside County is pretty darn
nice, and that these carpool lanes would probably never have been built
in a timely fashion without the private sector intervening to build
them.
The transponder I have on my car isn't that hard to get in the mail via a phone call, and it works without ever having to utilize a tollbooth. I can use other Orange County toll roads with the same transponder I use for the 91 Express Lanes, and I pay into my account when my balance runs low. I have the option of shaving up to 20-30 minutes off my commute, and it's my choice as to when I use them based on traffic and the time of day. These 91 Express Lanes (which are high occupancy toll lanes, or HOT Lanes) have, overall, been beneficial to commuters between Orange and Riverside Counties...and I think that was and is a pretty "hot" idea.
In general, I despise it when we rob Peter to pay Paul when it comes to transportation--so I hate to hear talk about converting a lane for solo drivers (otherwise known as a "mixed-use" lane) to a carpool lane (otherwise known as a high-occupancy vehicle or HOV lane). In general, I find that single-lane HOV lanes quickly jam up and have reduced usefulness during rush hour but double HOV lanes almost always do the trick in providing alternatives...and my approach and philosophy in pursuing enhanced transportation has always been to provide alternatives rather than to beat someone into changing his/her behavior.
That said, I think that the alternative should be preserved for either using a carpool, vanpool or mass transit; it is necessary to reward those willing to compromise for a faster commute. Time is money, gas costs money, and there's no way we can put a dollar figure on avoiding mind-numbing gridlock. Similarly, I believe that those who choose to pay more should retain that option so long as there are options for those who cannot pay. On a semi-related note, police and fire and rescue vehicles should be able to have these HOV lanes available for emergency situations.
Along comes the pilot Los Angeles County Congestion Reduction Demonstration Project, funded by the feds to the tune of some $210 million and Caltrans for $800,000 for buses, a bus maintenance facility Downtown that is capable of accommodating the larger buses we're utilizing for this project and other bus routes, creating more park and ride lots, and the restriping and improving our mega-gridlocked I-10 and I-110 freeways.
A previous alternative to have both FastLanes on single HOV lane segments of the I-10 and I-210 freeways was explored, but since that alternative would potentially adversely and disproportionately affect the commutes of San Gabriel Valley residents, and might actually rob the mobilities of one group of commuters for the benefits of others, it was dropped in favor of the I-110/I-10 alternative.
I think that most Angelenos and Southern Californians have heard of the large light and heavy and commuter rail projects we have out there but we also have two very large Busways--the Harbor Transitway (Bronze Line) connecting San Pedro to Downtown that has bus stations and buses utilizing the two-lane 110 freeway HOV Lanes, and the El Monte Busway (Silver Line) connecting El Monte to Downtown utilizing the one-lane 10 freeway HOV lane. These two projects would be L.A. County's first HOT lanes, or FastLanes:
This $210 million from the feds, recently authorized and signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger (SB 1422, authored by State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas) would not only create the infrastructure to include solo drivers in these FastLanes at a price determined by congestion and the time of the day or week on these HOV Lanes, but could potentially lead to restriping and widening the freeways to allow for increased capacity for all drivers on these two mega-congested freeways.
Clearly, wealthier solo drivers can more easily afford to use the FastLanes, but assistance to low-income commuters who choose to utilize mass transit (perhaps to acquire credit for paying to use the FastLanes) and/or cannot access mass transit will be pursued by Metro. Furthermore, it must be emphasized that we all have the option of using mass transit and/or carpools for no toll whatsoever, provided the bus and other mass transit service that the federal money would pay for makes that option more attractive.
I admit to also being excited about a potential restriping and creation of two-lane HOV segments on the I-10, as well as enhancing the capacity of the El Monte Busway (Silver Line). I also admit to exploring a flyover of the Harbor Transitway (Bronze Line) to Adams Blvd. and even Figueroa Blvd. as a way to make that Busway a more viable Downtown-South Bay connection than it now is--although the advent of the future Expo Line and Downtown Connector might make it smarter to have all buses connect directly to that light rail system.
I'm most excited, however, about the idea of offering alternatives and expanding capacity. Whether it's a solo driver or a carpooler, a mass transit user or someone who choose to utilize the HOT lanes (or not), this project gives us all more potential mobility and does so with increased alternatives for us to explore. Furthermore, since it's a pilot project, if the negatives conclusively outweigh the positives after a few years, Metro has the option to drop this project.
Long overdue federal funding (albeit only a small fraction of what's owed to our county) for transportation, and with a plan that offers more mobility and alternatives--now that's a very HOT idea.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D. is the Co-Chair of the Council District 11 Transportation Advisory Committee and an occasional contributor to CityWatch.) ◘
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