Freeway Service Patrol Encounters Roadblocks : Transportation: The plan to pay for tow trucks to roam the roads looking for disabled vehicles runs into opposition. Some say the need isn’t there.

Some Ventura County leaders want to put the brakes on a plan to pay tow-truck drivers to roam local freeways and repair or remove disabled vehicles--a key cause of frustrating traffic jams.

Motorists in Los Angeles and Orange counties, where such Freeway Service Patrols already exist, have hailed them as an effective way to help stranded drivers and keep traffic moving.

But some members of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, who have reviewed early plans to start the service in their region, say public funds shouldn’t be spent on car repairs and towing. Critics also say Ventura County’s freeways simply aren’t crowded enough to warrant the service.

“I think that having tow trucks patrol the freeways is overkill,” said Camarillo Councilman David M. Smith, who also serves on the commission. “I don’t think it’s necessary.”

The panel is slated to take a final vote on the plan in May or June, after the local regulations and budget are prepared.

But at their April 2 meeting, commissioners voted 5 to 2 to take tow-truck funding out of next year’s draft budget--a strong sign that the traffic program is veering toward a legislative SigAlert.

The proposal tentatively calls for a one-year, $50,000 pilot program that would serve only the eastern end of the Simi Valley Freeway between the Los Angeles County line and Tapo Canyon Road. About 8,000 to 10,000 vehicles per hour use this stretch during peak periods, said Christopher Stephens, a Transportation Commission planner.

The program could be expanded later to cover part of the Ventura Freeway in eastern Thousand Oaks, he said.

If, after studying the completed tow-truck plan, a majority of commissioners endorse it, the panel can reverse its earlier vote and put the money back in the budget.

But Dave McCormick, whose Simi Valley towing service handles breakdowns on the Simi Valley Freeway, hopes that the idea hits a dead end. He has already begun urging transportation leaders to oppose the subsidized repair and towing plan.

“It’s taxpayers’ money that should be used for other things than those that are handled by the private sector already,” McCormick said. “When the service is available and is being performed in an adequate and professional manner, then government should stay out of it.”

As proposed, Ventura County’s Freeway Service Patrol would be modeled after the Los Angeles County program that has aided more than 290,000 motorists since its inception July 1, 1990.

Under the program, uniformed drivers in white tow trucks, supervised by the California Highway Patrol, cruise the freeways during weekday rush hours. The drivers and trucks are from private towing companies under contract to Los Angeles County’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Stranded motorists pay nothing for the freeway service, and the tow-truck drivers cannot accept a gratuity.

Drivers spend up to 10 minutes trying to get a disabled vehicle back on the road with a gallon of gas, a tire change or minor repairs. If the car still does not run, the driver tows it to a safe, public location where the motorist can telephone for help.

The patrol trucks are not permitted to take a disabled vehicle to a garage or gas station for repairs.

The Los Angeles transportation agency is now spending $14.8 million annually on the program, using 138 tow trucks on portions of almost every freeway in Los Angeles County.

Before this program began, tow trucks took an average of 20 minutes to reach a disabled vehicle during rush hours, said CHP Officer Thomas C. Mitchell, a Freeway Service Patrol supervisor. Now, Mitchell said, tow trucks usually arrive in less than five minutes.

The timing is important because a disabled vehicle can block a traffic lane and cause curious passing motorists to slow down.

Mitchell said the roving tow trucks may not help much on a freeway that already carries far too much traffic.

“But in areas where the traffic is not overwhelming the freeway system, the quick removal of a traffic impediment helps tremendously,” he said.

Mitchell said the primary purpose of the program is to keep traffic flowing more smoothly on the congested freeway system. The project “is not for the people we’re towing,” Mitchell said. “It’s for the people stuck behind a breakdown.”

The service has been a hit among freeway drivers in Los Angeles, proponents say.

“This is a program that has been incredibly successful since the day we initiated it,” said Michael Bustamante, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “Over 90% of the motorists we’ve surveyed have rated the program as excellent.”

In November, Orange County launched a two-year tryout for a Freeway Service Patrol program using 15 tow trucks. The service has already aided more than 11,000 motorists.

“It’s been welcomed enthusiastically,” said Elaine Beno, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Transportation Authority. She said the tow trucks “improve the freeway traffic flow and reduce the smog associated with stop-and-go traffic.”

Subsidized towing programs also have been set up in the San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento metropolitan areas.

The Ventura County Transportation Commission would pay the Los Angeles transportation agency to extend its existing service on the Simi Valley Freeway into Simi Valley under the proposed program.

State lawmakers have set aside funds to pay 75% of the cost of Freeway Service Patrols. Ventura County will lose its share unless the transportation commission approves a local program within the next two months, commission staff members said.

To pay the pilot program’s 25% local share--about $12,500--the commission staff wants to use freeway emergency dollars. Ventura County motorists pay an extra $1 on their annual vehicle registration fees toward this fund, which was set up solely to pay for the county’s emergency call box network.

State officials have revised the rules to allow this money to be used for other programs such as overhead message signs and freeway towing services.

Ventura County’s emergency call box system, with more than 450 phones in place, is nearly complete, but well over $1 million remains in the account. Some transportation commissioners say staff members have proposed the tow-truck program simply because the money is available.

“Government tends to collect money and then find ways to spend it,” said county Supervisor Vicky Howard, a transportation commissioner. “I think we need to be very careful.”

But county Supervisor Susan Lacey, who also serves on the commission, said the panel’s decision to cut the tow-truck patrol from the draft budget was “very shortsighted, when this might be a more cost-effective way to use the money.”

Lacey said she will consider using call box funds for other projects, such as the freeway patrols, because government programs must be able “to live and change and not remain static.”