Update: Regular Carpoolers Will Not Have to Pay to Use ExpressLanes
One of the major concerns many people have with Metro's ExpressLanes project, which will convert HOV Lanes on parts of the I-10 and I-110 to variable toll lanes, is that the carpoolers who currently use those lanes will lose their incentive to carpool. Metro addressed those concerns when they announced that carpool drivers would be allowed to continue to use those lanes. However, those concerns were rekindled when news broke that Metro will charge $3 per month for using the transponder needed to legally access the lanes.
However, that feel apparently only applies to occasional users of the transponder. Responding to some comments on Streetsblog, Rick Jager of Metro Media Relations writes:
The monthly $3 maintenance fee is waived when the customer uses the ExpressLanes four trips per month or more whether carpooling, vanpooling of SOV (Single Occupancy Vehicle) and that fee is also waived for low income commuters as well.
Thus, if you're a regular commuter, than you won't be paying any more than they are now to use the lanes: nothing.
Stay in touch
Sign up for our free newsletter
More from Streetsblog Los Angeles
Bus Rapid Transit Plans in SGV Get Clearer, and More Complicated
New concepts for rapid bus service across the 626 have ironed out the questions of where an East-West route would run and where demonstrations could begin.
Friday’s Headlines
Metro Board Approves $207 Million for 91 and 605 Freeway Expansion Projects
Metro and Caltrans eastbound 91 Freeway widening is especially alarming as it will increase tailpipe pollution in an already diesel-pollution-burdened community that is 69 percent Latino, and 28 percent Black
