Riding County Toll Roads Will Become a Little More Costly

Orange County toll road officials Thursday approved a $1 monthly fee for transponder users, bucking a trend that has seen more and more breaks given to motorists with the electronic toll collection devices.

The fee will be imposed on the more than 60% of FasTrak customers who spend less than $25 a month on the 51 miles of county toll road. It will not affect drivers who got their transponders for the 91 Express Lanes, which require a $5 monthly minimum.

Officials said the new charge, which could take effect in September, is needed to offset the cost of replacing the $30 devices, which have an estimated seven-year life span. The square boxes that beep when a toll is collected continue to be given out like hot cakes, about 7,000 a month. More than 230,000 have been issued by the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which oversee the San Joaquin Hills, Foothill and Eastern toll roads. Toll road officials estimate that the new fee will generate $1.6 million each year.

But some transportation experts questioned the decision.

“I think in general they may be being penny-wise and pound-foolish,” said Robert Poole, executive director of the Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based think tank. “They should be shooting for 100% transponder usage, and they ought to be charging less for tolls for people who have them.”

That is exactly the policy taking effect in Dallas. Starting in August, drivers on the Dallas North Toll Road will no longer pay a $2 monthly fee for use of transponders, which automatically deduct tolls from prepaid accounts.

“We did a survey recently, and we found the No. 1 reason people wouldn’t get a transponder was the $2 fee,” said Jerry Shelton, spokesman for the Dallas agency. “They said they just didn’t see why they should pay more than other people.” The agency also will begin discounting fares for transponder users, he said.

While rental fees for transponders are not unheard of--EZ-Tag users on Houston’s toll roads pay $1 monthly--many toll agencies have decided to forgo the charge. At the world’s largest electronic toll collection operation, the MTA Bridges and Tunnels in New York, 1.6 million EZ-Pass holders pay discounted tolls and no monthly rental.

“There is no fee,” spokesman Frank Pascual said. “There was some talk at one point. But our goal was a diminished rush hour, and we’ve gotten that. It saves us money to have people using the EZ-Pass.”

A number of toll roads, including those in Houston, Toronto and Northern Virginia, discount rates from 10% to 25% for electronic customers. In contrast, about 142,000 FasTrak users in Orange County now will pay more than customers who use cash.

Officials in Orange County--where there is not heavy traffic on toll roads--say transponders are costing money, particularly the 45,000 in circulation that are rarely or never used. They would like those devices back. And they say their mission--to pay off the bonds used to build the roads and turn them into freeways--is different from that of road agencies for systems where more transponders would help to alleviate congestion.

Already, the Orange County agencies have spent more than $9.4 million on transponders and have budgeted $2.6 million more for next year, spokeswoman Lisa Telles said.

The roads are scheduled to be turned into freeways as soon as more than $3 billion in privately issued bonds are paid off. Meanwhile, the new fee is likely to be unpopular with toll road users who feel the rules have been changed to their detriment.

Concern about public perception caused board members to lower the monthly spending threshold to $25 from the $40 originally proposed.

Still, at Thursday’s board meeting, Chris Elliott of Irvine called the new policy a “tax break for the rich.”

“If this is to replace transponders, [heavy users] might need replacement sooner,” she said. “Every day, it’s plastered to the windshield exposed to the elements. Mine sits in my glove box.”

Elliot told the board she plans to return two of her family’s three transponders.

“That’s exactly what we’re trying to do,” said Collene Campbell, a board member and San Juan Capistrano City Council member.

The timing of the new fee, passed in the same session at which the board approved a multiyear, multimillion-dollar marketing campaign, drew criticism from County Supervisor Tom Wilson, the only board member to vote against the change.

“Anyone in politics will tell you perception is reality,” Wilson said. “To the public, it will appear we are breaking a promise to them. We’re getting ready to charge people for their free transponders.”