Carpools Face Tolls on 91 Express Lanes

In an effort to stem multimillion-dollar losses, the operators of the 91 Express Lanes announced Wednesday that they will charge carpools to use the toll road beginning Jan. 1.

The new charge is needed to “assist us in meeting our obligations to our lenders, cover our operating expenses and make a reasonable return for our investment,” said Greg Hulsizer, general manager of the California Private Transportation Co., which manages the 10-mile toll road.

The road has been free for cars containing three or more people since it opened in 1995 along the center of the Riverside (91) Freeway from the northern tip of the Costa Mesa Freeway to the Riverside County line. Beginning next year, Hulsizer said, those cars will be charged tolls ranging from 30 cents during non-peak periods to about $1.50 during rush hour for traveling the full length of the road. Other drivers pay 60 cents to $2.95 for the same trip.

The new charges are necessary, Hulsizer said, because the toll road’s profit margin has fallen to less than 20% of its debt payment, a minimum required by the company’s contract with Caltrans, which is a public partner in the venture.

“Our projections,” Hulsizer said, “are that we will be under [that minimum] at least for the first six months of 1998.”

Currently, he said, about 29,000 cars a day travel the road. He would not say how that compares to the company’s traffic projections. He also declined to elaborate on the toll road’s current revenue or how it compares to projections.

In an annual report to Caltrans released in May, the company showed a $6.7-million net loss for the year. The report said the tollway received revenue of $7.07 million against $6.4 million in expenses in fiscal 1996-97, leaving operating income of $730,000 before payment of debt.

But Hulsizer on Wednesday insisted that the toll road is performing well.

“We’re satisfied with how we’re doing,” he said. “Our customer base and traffic continue to grow week to week. We are meeting all of our financial obligations to our lenders. We anticipate that we will break even by the end of 1998.”

The new price hike is the road’s third. In December 1996, the company increased the tolls by up to $1 in an effort, they said, to reduce rush-hour congestion on the road. And in August, they raised fees again, up to 20 additional cents during rush hours.

Under the terms of its agreement with Caltrans, Hulsizer said, the company will make monthly reports detailing its financial situation, with an eye toward eventually lifting the carpool tolls. Other parties to that agreement are the Riverside County Transportation Commission and the Orange County Transportation Authority.

John Standiford, a spokesman for the OCTA, said that agency hopes the new tolls will be temporary.

“We are participating in an audit of their financial situation,” Standiford said. “We have someone in Omaha, Neb., right now determining if this is absolutely necessary.”

Toll road officials say the prices they charge are part of a delicate balance. While they want to keep tolls low enough to attract users, they don’t want the prices to be so cheap that the road becomes congested, which defeats its purpose for commuters.

The company’s contract with Caltrans required that the carpool lanes be free for the first two years of operation, an offer touted in early press releases as one of the road’s major selling points.

Bill Ward, chairman of Drivers for Highway Safety, which has been critical of carpool lanes, said it is nonsensical to change that now.

“You’d think they would know better than to raise prices when they’re losing money,” he said. “If McDonald’s can’t sell hamburgers, they don’t raise the price. Most businesses, when they get in trouble, try to lower prices. They ought to be trying to attract more people rather than driving them away.”