Concept: What an entry point for the 91 Express Lanes would look like if the corridor permitted free non-transponder 3+ HOV's -or- FasTrak.
High occupancy vehicle travel remains a highly popular travel option for many, but incentives to freely rideshare on southland freeways are weakening. Legit HOV's consist of not only commuter carpools which make up approximately 10% of all commuter trips, but also private charter buses, airport shuttles, casino coaches, the Greyhound bus, taxis, caravans, motorcycles, and yes, family trips. Private HOV's contribute toward a robust multi-modal transportation system, but presently, incentives to travel in an HOV are in decline.
Los Angeles Metro's high occupancy toll lanes along the I-110 freeway corridor through South LA accomplished two things: It allowed solo-occupancy vehicles to pay a toll with a FasTrak transponder to access the underutilized $1 billion I-110 Harbor Transitway corridor. New rapid express buses were also brought in to serve the corridor. However, there is little else that shows that the toll lanes have contributed toward getting Southern California moving, and the majority of I-110 commuters know it.
As The Transit Coalition predicted, traffic in the I-110 general purpose lanes has worsened since the November, 2012 carpool-to-ExpressLane lane conversion three months ago, thus repeating the same disaster that occurred in 2011 in Atlanta. Video rants posted to YouTube and toll lane opposition Facebook pages have surfaced on the Internet.That's because all of the non FasTrak-registered HOV's were displaced from the former 2+ carpool lanes; all vehicles including HOV's are now mandated to have a FasTrak transponder to use the facility. To make matters worse, HOV's with a non-switchable standard FasTrak, which is issued by other public entities all over the state, can only use the LA Metro ExpressLanes as a toll patron.
Let's restate that: There's no way to optimize HOV usage in the ExpressLanes to its fullest potential with the current usage policy, no way. To be fair, Metro predicts that the increased congestion will phase out as more people preregister and ridership on the Metro Silver Line builds up, but The Transit Coalition has objected to such preregistration mandates for HOV's which clearly result in a reduction of HOV traffic instead of single occupancy vehicles. It is a confirmed fact that when HOT lane usage policies mandate transponder registration for HOV's, ridesharing and carpooling is discouraged; solo commuting encouraged.
The very popular 3+ carpool lane along Interstate 10 between LA and El Monte will undergo the same conversion on February 23, and Metro is now proposing additional ExpressLanes through the Newhall Pass on Interstate 5. The Riverside County Transportation Commission also continues on its plans toextend the 91 Express Lanes east into Corona which will include a carpool lane conversion and potential HOT lanes for I-15. Speaking of the I-15 HOT lanes, the Riverside County Transportation Commission scaled back the southernmost segment of the corridor to cut its cost in half, but the shortened project will most likely exacerbate a major southbound bottleneck south of Corona if nothing else is done further south. To be fair, RCTC's proposals include constructing additional lanes to address any worsened congestion impacts, but how do our public agencies think HOV usage is going to flourish if they continue to put pre-registration barriers on such traffic? The riding public knows that governments cannot expand HOV usage in a corridor by strangling it with regulations that drives non-registered carpools back into traffic-choked general purpose lanes. High occupancy toll lanes can be truly "high occupancy" with free non-transponder carpooling or not, and it seems both Metro and RCTC are saying not. Public agencies need to get back to helping HOV's expand and set aside the "Nanny Lane" politics because serious worsened congestion has already occurred along the I-110 and LA's commuters know it.
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