Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Congestion Pricing

It Might be Hot, but Antonovich Wants It HOTter on the Westside

Just when you thought the I-405 Widening Project through the Sepulveda Pass couldn't get less popular.

Antonovich talks to fellow Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who represents the area covered in the 405 widening. They were talking fire safety, not congestion pricing. Photo:##http://zev.lacounty.gov/newsletters/October_2008.html##ZevWeb##

Last week, news broke slowly that then Metro Board Chair and County Supervisor Mike Antonovich wants Metro staff to examine whether or not it makes sense for the HOV lanes on the I-405 to become  High Occupancy Toll Lanes to offset the ever expanding budget of the widening.

The motion cleared committee and was passed by the Metro Board. Staff is expected to have a report in the next month or two. Metro currently oversees a pilot program its version of congestion pricing, known as ExpressLanes, on portions of the I-10 and I-110. The results of the program are still up for debate.

It might seem odd for Antonovich, who tells Fox 11 he doesn't actually like congestion pricing, to sponsor such a measure.  The Supervisor explains that it's not a love of congestion pricing, but an over-arching sense of fairness that moved this proposal. Metro is proposing to create HOT Lanes for the I-5 to pay for expansion of the local HOV network. Since federal funds are no longer enough to cover the 405 project, it's unfair to expect the entire county to foot the bill while only drivers on the I-5 have to pay the bill for that road widening.

So what say you Streetsbloggers, should the new HOV lane on the 405 be immediately converted into a HOT Lane? Is Antonovich right?

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Metro 2026 World Cup Transit Plans Emerging

From June 13 to July 7, 2026, Los Angeles will host eight World Cup soccer matches, all at the SoFi Stadium in the city of Inglewood

May 9, 2025

Metro Names Bill Scott as Chief of Police

Chief Scott and Metro leadership emphasized that keeping Metro transit safe would require a multi-faceted approach that included the deployment of officers as well as collaboration with the community, ambassadors, and service providers. "Sometimes enforcement is the answer," Scott said. "Sometimes it's not."

May 7, 2025

Lyft’s Anti-Worker Anti-Transit Record Raises Red Flags For Metro Bike Share

Edwin Aviles and Kalayaan Mendoza urge Metro not to reward bad actors working to undermine workers’ rights and mass transit

See all posts