Toll Increase Possible for Express Lanes

Transportation officials revealed Friday they may have to raise -- not lower -- tolls for many rush-hour motorists using the 91 Express Lanes to pay the huge debt for buying the turnpike and prevent it from being overwhelmed by traffic.

This conflicts with earlier suggestions that last month’s takeover of the privately owned tollway by the Orange County Transportation Authority for $207 million could bring price relief to what authorities say is one of the nation’s most expensive turnpikes to use.

Also on Friday, a plan to eliminate tolls for vehicles carrying three or more people was delayed by Express Lane officials.

Although the possibility of dropping fees was raised with the public and state legislators before OCTA bought the lanes, authorities postponed the matter for 60 days to study the impact it would have on Express Lane traffic loads and revenue.

“This was supposed to happen the day the deal was signed,” said a disappointed Assemblyman Todd Spitzer (R-Orange), who, as an Orange County supervisor, spearheaded the drive to acquire the lanes.

“It was part of the original promise. The public deserves it. We have always said, ‘Three for free,’ ” Spitzer said.

OCTA officials said Friday that they never promised to reduce tolls during the 1 1/2-year effort to buy the toll road.

The possibility of toll increases and eliminating fees for vehicles carrying three or more people dominated Friday’s inaugural meeting of the State Route 91 Advisory Committee.

The 13-member panel was created to advise OCTA directors on matters related to the tollway, improvements to the crowded Riverside Freeway, and the development of a new transportation corridor between Orange County and the fast-growing Inland Empire.

The committee was formed when OCTA acquired the 91 Express Lanes, which run for 10 miles down the median of the Riverside Freeway from northern Anaheim to the Riverside County border. The authority paid $72 million in cash to California Private Transportation Co. and assumed $135 million in debt.

“This is a historic day,” said Riverside County Supervisor John Tavaglione, vice chairman of the advisory committee. “It took 18 months to form this partnership between Riverside and Orange counties.”

Committee members face the delicate job of trying to reduce congestion along the free portions of the Riverside Freeway without sacrificing tolls needed to repay Express Lane debts.

Panel members expressed concern that if tolls are too high, more commuters will use the Riverside Freeway, overwhelming improvements such as lane additions and restriping projects now underway.

But if too many improvements are made to the highway, fewer motorists will use the tollway and revenue will drop.

“We don’t want to screw it up,” said committee member Tim Keenan, a Cypress city councilman and chairman of the OCTA board.

Express Lane officials said that growing demand for the tollway and the potential for the road’s debt to rise this year are likely to lead to a series of rate increases for the majority of rush-hour motorists as early as this year. The one-way fee is now $4.75 at peak travel times.

“Eventually, we are going to have to raise tolls,” said Mike Ward, an Irvine city councilman and member of the OCTA board of directors.

“There might be relief for some people, but it is too early to talk about it.”

A new traffic study by Vollmer Associates, a New York-based consulting firm, concluded that OCTA “should anticipate the need” to raise tolls during peak periods starting in 2003 to maintain the speeds that make the lanes attractive to motorists.

Researchers found that tollway traffic is increasing and might soon exceed the optimum volume of 3,500 cars an hour in one direction, especially during rush hours.

Toll increases can reduce congestion by discouraging motorists from using the lanes. Motorists now make about 25,500 daily vehicle trips on the Express Lanes during weekdays.

OCTA officials also said the tollway’s annual interest payments will increase from $12 million to $14 million if they are able to refinance its $135 million debt this year.

Although they expect a lower interest rate, OCTA plans to add $50 million to the loan, raising it to $185 million, so it can recoup most of the cash it gave to California Private Transportation Co.

“I hate to see it, but the only choice is to raise tolls,” said Howard Monise of Corona, who uses the lanes to commute to his job in Santa Ana.

“More and more people are coming. They will need to do this,” Monise said.

Arthur T. Leahy, OCTA’s chief executive officer, cautioned that it is too early to say whether tolls will have to be increased because authorities haven’t fully analyzed what is needed to operate the tollway and improve the Riverside Freeway.

“We don’t know what is going to happen,” Leahy said. “We are just getting our sea legs and learning how to manage a new enterprise. We need to look at the range of options before making any decisions.”