Rush-Hour on 91 Toll Lanes Now Pricier

Drivers hoping to avoid the traffic-swamped Riverside Freeway will have to fork out more money to enjoy the route’s 10-mile stretch of toll lanes that offer a break from rush-hour congestion.

The peak-hour rate on the privately owned lanes will jump immediately from $3.75 to $4.25, the second price increase this year and the sixth since the lanes opened four years ago.

County Supervisor Todd Spitzer said drivers shouldn’t blame the owners of the 91 Express Lanes for the hike. Blame the state, he said. If the Legislature had stayed the course on funding highway infrastructure with gasoline taxes, commuters might not have the dilemma of whether to pay to drive or be stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, said Spitzer, a board member on the Transportation Corridor Agencies. The TCA operates Orange County’s three other toll roads, but not the 91 Express Lanes, which are owned by the California Private Transportation Company LP.

Spitzer said the state’s lack of momentum in building roads created an opening for a private, for-profit firm to build toll lanes.

The company “got into this to make money,” Spitzer said. “From a microeconomics point of view, they’re doing what they have to do to protect their investment.”

The 10 miles of toll lanes in the median of the Riverside Freeway, from the Riverside County line west to the Costa Mesa Freeway, is one of the nation’s most expensive commutes per mile.

During nonpeak hours, the rates start as low as 75 cents, then creep up as rush hour approaches. In the morning, when commuters pour into Orange County, the rates on the westbound lanes spike. In the late afternoon, as drivers return home, the rates on the eastbound lanes likewise surge.

When the 91 Express Lanes opened in 1995, rates ranged from 25 cents to $2.50. Because toll road profits are driven in large measure by congestion in the regular freeway lanes, it’s in toll operator’s interest to keep its own lanes from becoming clogged. Raising tolls is an effective tool for reducing congestion, Spitzer said.

Politicians, particularly in Riverside, have urged the state to buy the private lanes and open them to the public. Little progress has been made on that front, however.

Drivers who use the Express Lanes are issued transponders, allowing their cars to be scanned much like items at a grocery store. Drivers are then charged for their use of the lanes.