Toll increases designed to reduce congestion have only increased revenue.
Toll increases won't curb use, history shows
Toll increases designed to reduce congestion on Orange County, California's 91 Express Lanes
February 27, 2006
By PHIL PITCHFORD
The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Copyright 2006
At least a few commuters returning from Orange County this afternoon likely will drive up to the 91 ExpressLanes, see the higher tolls that took effect today and decide to forgo the faster ride in order to save a few dollars.
But if history is any indication, there will be plenty of other drivers willing to pick up the slack, and then some.
Despite regular toll increases, the express lanes have shown strong and steady growth, records show.
The number of daily and weekly transactions on the lanes has increased each of the past three fiscal years, according to statistics from the Orange County Transportation Authority, which owns the lanes. The same holds true for weekly and annual tolls. "The revenues are off the charts, a lot higher than what they anticipated," Corona City Councilman Jeff Miller said.
Drivers may say they hate the idea of paying to drive on a freeway, but they apparently hate sitting in traffic even more.
"You can turn one of the worst rides in the county into one of the best rides in the county," said Bruce Schworck, a retired construction worker from Canyon Lake who used the lanes almost every day for years.
The transportation authority, for example, had projected that average daily trips on the express lanes would exceed 32,000 during this fiscal year. But just last month the figure was approximately 43,000, according to Daryl Watkins, the authority's manager of toll road and
motorist services.
The authority has contractual agreements with about 125,000 express lane users, meaning that about a third of the people who are eligible to use the lanes on a given day actually do. Watkins said about 56 percent of the traffic is eastbound, compared to about 44 percent westbound.
Most commuters see the express lanes as "congestion insurance," said Bob Poole, director of transportation studies and founder of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank in Los Angeles.
"You may not use it every time, but you know that it's there if you really need it," he said.
As usage continues to grow and tolls increase, the transportation authority eventually will wrestle with how to spend any toll revenue that exceeds the amount needed to pay off bonds used to purchase the lanes. The authority bought the lanes in 2003 for about $207 million from the private company that built them.
Excess toll revenue must be plowed back into improvements along the Highway 91 corridor. The transportation authority is conducting environmental studies now as part of a plan to build an auxiliary lane on the eastbound side of the freeway between Highway 71 in Corona and Highway 241 toll road in Yorba Linda. Such a lane already has been added to the westbound side of Highway 91.
"People don't see a lot of value in studies," Watkins said. "But you can't put new concrete down until you do that study."
Other possibilities for excess revenue include paying down the debt on the lanes early, reworking congested ramps or extending the express lanes further east to Interstate 15, Watkins said. That would mark the first time the 91 Express Lanes ventured into Riverside County.
A committee of elected officials from Riverside and Orange counties eventually will recommend potential projects, but the decision ultimately belongs to the Orange County agency that owns the lanes.
"It just highlights the need for Riverside County and Orange County to work together to do these improvements as soon as possible," said John Standiford, spokesman for the Riverside County Transportation Commission. "Orange County doesn't have the people to fill the jobs they have, and we have people who need those jobs."
© 2006 The Riverside Press-Enterprise www.pe.com
Toll increases designed to reduce congestion on Orange County, California's 91 Express Lanes
February 27, 2006
By PHIL PITCHFORD
The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Copyright 2006
At least a few commuters returning from Orange County this afternoon likely will drive up to the 91 ExpressLanes, see the higher tolls that took effect today and decide to forgo the faster ride in order to save a few dollars.
But if history is any indication, there will be plenty of other drivers willing to pick up the slack, and then some.
Despite regular toll increases, the express lanes have shown strong and steady growth, records show.
The number of daily and weekly transactions on the lanes has increased each of the past three fiscal years, according to statistics from the Orange County Transportation Authority, which owns the lanes. The same holds true for weekly and annual tolls. "The revenues are off the charts, a lot higher than what they anticipated," Corona City Councilman Jeff Miller said.
Drivers may say they hate the idea of paying to drive on a freeway, but they apparently hate sitting in traffic even more.
"You can turn one of the worst rides in the county into one of the best rides in the county," said Bruce Schworck, a retired construction worker from Canyon Lake who used the lanes almost every day for years.
The transportation authority, for example, had projected that average daily trips on the express lanes would exceed 32,000 during this fiscal year. But just last month the figure was approximately 43,000, according to Daryl Watkins, the authority's manager of toll road and
motorist services.
The authority has contractual agreements with about 125,000 express lane users, meaning that about a third of the people who are eligible to use the lanes on a given day actually do. Watkins said about 56 percent of the traffic is eastbound, compared to about 44 percent westbound.
Most commuters see the express lanes as "congestion insurance," said Bob Poole, director of transportation studies and founder of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank in Los Angeles.
"You may not use it every time, but you know that it's there if you really need it," he said.
As usage continues to grow and tolls increase, the transportation authority eventually will wrestle with how to spend any toll revenue that exceeds the amount needed to pay off bonds used to purchase the lanes. The authority bought the lanes in 2003 for about $207 million from the private company that built them.
Excess toll revenue must be plowed back into improvements along the Highway 91 corridor. The transportation authority is conducting environmental studies now as part of a plan to build an auxiliary lane on the eastbound side of the freeway between Highway 71 in Corona and Highway 241 toll road in Yorba Linda. Such a lane already has been added to the westbound side of Highway 91.
"People don't see a lot of value in studies," Watkins said. "But you can't put new concrete down until you do that study."
Other possibilities for excess revenue include paying down the debt on the lanes early, reworking congested ramps or extending the express lanes further east to Interstate 15, Watkins said. That would mark the first time the 91 Express Lanes ventured into Riverside County.
A committee of elected officials from Riverside and Orange counties eventually will recommend potential projects, but the decision ultimately belongs to the Orange County agency that owns the lanes.
"It just highlights the need for Riverside County and Orange County to work together to do these improvements as soon as possible," said John Standiford, spokesman for the Riverside County Transportation Commission. "Orange County doesn't have the people to fill the jobs they have, and we have people who need those jobs."
© 2006 The Riverside Press-Enterprise
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Monday, February 27, 2006
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