OCTA Considering Tolls for Some in New Carpool Lane

Solo drivers may have the option--and commuting pairs the burden--of paying to use a new carpool lane along a 10-mile stretch of the Riverside Freeway beginning in three years.

The Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday took the first step toward such a future by voting 10 to 1 to spend $10,000 to $15,000 for an environmental analysis of that plan.

Dave Elbaum, the OCTA director of planning and development, said the toll lane would bring in income and prevent congested carpool lanes by charging vehicles with fewer than three occupants for using the lane.

Todd Spitzer, the only board member to vote against the environmental analysis, expressed reservations: “Are we creating some kind of schizophrenia? The whole point is to get people to carpool--now we’re penalizing those who pair up.”

OCTA officials say the new idea for the pay-as-you-go carpool lane--a High Occupancy Toll lane, or HOT for short--was prompted by the rapid filling of the county’s carpool lanes. Free to any vehicle with two more more occupants and forbidden to solo drivers, carpool lanes are likely to be too congested by the turn of the century to offer a faster commute. On the other hand, Elbaum said, simply increasing the occupancy requirement to three probably would mean a little-used carpool lane.

By allowing vehicles with three or more occupants to use the lane free while charging those with one or two, he said, the OCTA could not only ensure that the lane is well used but bring in revenue of up to $30 million during its first five years of operation.

The same concept is being applied along a stretch of Interstate 15 in northern San Diego County, and on the 10-mile, privately operated 91 Express Lanes running from the Riverside County line to the northern tip of the Costa Mesa Freeway. Under the OCTA plan, the HOT lane concept would be extended westward along the Riverside Freeway to the Los Angeles County line.

Instead of building new lanes, Elbaum said, OCTA would operate the single carpool lane now under construction and expected to be completed by 2000 as a HOT lane in both directions, with tolls of $1 to $5, depending on the time of day and traffic flow.

“We shouldn’t overreact to the public’s initial concerns,” Elbaum said, expecting a negative reaction. A survey of Orange County commuters, he said, indicated that while only 50% of those who don’t use the Riverside Freeway favor the HOT lane concept, that percentage rises to 74% among those who use the freeway regularly. “Experience tends to win support for the HOT lanes,” Elbaum said.

If the OCTA wishes to begin collecting tolls on the new lane by 2000, he said, it must make a final decision on the matter by mid-1998.

However, several OCTA board members echoed Spitzer’s reservations about making people pay for something they now get free.

“There will be a point where the driving public will say, ‘Enough is enough,’ ” James Silva said.

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New Lane Deal

A 10-mile stretch of the Riverside Freeway may end up with a hybrid version of the common carpool lane. In this instance, vehicles heading east or west with one or two motorists would have the option of using the lane--but for a fee. Having three or more in a vehicle would exempt users from the fee.