91 Express Lanes Toll to Rise for 4th Time Since Road Opened

The price of using the 91 Express Lanes is going up again for the fourth time in the road’s three-year history.

The new rates--which will range from 75 cents to $3.50 starting Jan. 31--come just as the owners of the privately built, owned and operated lanes are exploring whether to sell them.

“I think the timing of the rate change is a little bit questionable,” said Gary Hausdorfer, who heads a group interested in buying the lanes and running them on a nonprofit basis.

“What you need to take into consideration is common sense as well as economics,” he said. “You want to make sure you aren’t losing your market share.”

Transportation experts say that boosting rates on the road makes good business sense. The lanes are attractive to drivers only if traffic is significantly lighter on them than on the notoriously congested, but totally free, Riverside Freeway alongside.

So the trick is to find a price that brings enough drivers to the pay lanes to turn a profit but not so many that traffic becomes just as bad as on the freeway.

“We regularly review our fare schedules,” said Greg Hulsizer, general manager of the lanes, who anticipates more revenue as a result of the new rates.

The so-called “congestion” pricing on the 91 Express Lanes--which boosts the rates when traffic is heaviest--has been much praised in the transportation community and has been cited as a model for other road projects worldwide.

But less clear is the nature of the road’s success. The lanes broke even for the first time last summer, around the same time officials at California Private Transportation Co. LP, which operates the lanes, started shopping the road to Hausdorfer’s group.

Some people say there are signs of trouble behind the scenes. They point to the frequent boosts in fares, the decision to start charging for carpools of three or more people and the talk of the proposed sale.

Although private highways were once heralded as the future for road building, transportation experts now say that some public/private partnerships seem more likely to succeed. They cite the Eastern, Foothill and San Joaquin toll roads as examples.

In recent months, moreover, the 91 Express Lanes have lost some business to the newly opened Eastern toll road.

“The 91 Express Lanes may be profitable, but are they profitable enough to satisfy investors?” asked Pete Fielding, former head of the UC Irvine Center for Transportation Studies.

“It’s just far more difficult to run a highway as a private road than most people, including myself, estimated.”

The California Private Transportation Co. does not provide information about its profitability and has consistently declined to do so. The 91 Express Lanes, which opened in 1995, are the first and only private toll lanes in the state.

Negotiations for the possible sale are continuing, both Hulsizer and Hausdorfer said. But for the sale to go forward, Hausdorfer said, his group, named Newtrac, would have to be granted nonprofit status by the Internal Revenue Service, a category it intends to apply for next month.

Last week, Newtrac got the support of the Riverside County transportation agency to pursue the sale. Orange County Transportation Authority officials have not yet said whether they will support the idea.

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Tale of the Toll

Driving on the 91 Express Lanes will get more expensive, again. Come Jan. 31, commuting during prime hours will cost as much as $3.50. Here’s how the peak-hour tolls have increased:

Dec. 1995: $2.50

Jan. 1997: $2.75

April 1998: $3.20

Jan. 1999: $3.50

Source: California Private Transportation Co.