Tollway Drivers Hit With Fee Hike

Operators of Orange County’s public toll roads on Thursday increased fares for cash-paying motorists and for drivers who travel the financially struggling San Joaquin Hills turnpike during rush hours.

The new tolls are expected to raise millions of dollars a year in additional revenue for the Transportation Corridor Agencies and brighten the financial outlook for the San Joaquin Hills tollway from Newport Beach to San Juan Capistrano.

Under two joint powers agreements, the corridor agencies operate 51 miles of highways in Orange County, including the San Joaquin Hills and the Foothill/Eastern toll roads, which include a short stretch of Highway 133.

Except for William Ossenmacher of Dana Point, board members for both turnpike systems approved a package of toll increases that will take effect early next year. A date has not been set.

Motorists paying cash on the Foothill/Eastern will have to pay 25 cents more, while drivers who use FasTrak transponders on that route will be hit with a 25-cent increase only at the Irvine Boulevard onramp.

The FasTrak system relies on dashboard or windshield mounted devices that electronically charge motorists for every trip they make on a turnpike.

Fares at the main San Joaquin Hills toll plaza will increase by 50 cents for cash-paying motorists any time of day and 25 cents for FasTrak customers only during peak travel times--Monday through Friday from 7 to 9 a.m. in the northbound lanes and 4 to 7 p.m. in the southbound lanes.

A corridor agencies’ analysis predicts the fare hike will increase revenue at least $1.3 million a year for the Foothill/Eastern and $3.3 million for San Joaquin Hills by 2003.

In October, Standard & Poor’s, a major bond rating agency, concluded in a credit report that the financial outlook for the road remains bleak for 2002 because economic conditions have continued to slide. The report was completed before the fare increase.

TCA officials say the toll increase should provide an incentive for cash-paying motorists to enroll in the FasTrak program, which is cheaper for the corridor agencies to run. A campaign to encourage drivers to switch to FasTrak might begin early next year.