ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Meters Matter

One of the uncelebrated wonders of modern transportation is the freeway access-ramp meter. Its sensors silently monitor traffic and control the rate that cars are allowed onto many busy freeways.

Orange County is due for some welcome relief this month with the activation of $2 million worth of meters along the Riverside Freeway from the Costa Mesa Freeway east to the county line.

As it is, the Riverside Freeway is one of the critical stretches of congestion in a county recognized as being among the state’s worst in terms of traffic problems. During the evening rush hour, for example, commuters leaving the county regularly encounter a bottleneck where the Riverside Freeway traverses Santa Ana Canyon. Without meters, vehicles pile onto a freeway that is unable to absorb the volume.

In June, the Caltrans office in San Bernardino added meters along the Riverside Freeway from Interstate 15 to the Orange County border, producing dramatic improvement. A preliminary survey showed that the average commute along that metered section dropped from 35 minutes to 22.

That augurs well for the installation of meters on the Orange County side of the freeway. Commuters will, of course, have to get used to waiting on the ramps. But a little patience will have a reward. Time lost in waiting to get on a freeway is usually made up once a vehicle enters the flow. So the new meters should provide a payoff for harried commuters caught in the freeway crush.