Post by nickv on Jul 7, 2007 10:12:30 GMT -8
Toll plan might leave many in jam
Adding paying drivers to carpool lanes would worsen traffic unless minimum occupancy was raised to three per vehicle, experts say.
By Rong-Gong Lin II, Times Staff Writer
Saturday, July 7, 2007
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Whoa! Metro is thinking about converting the carpool lanes in LA County into 3+ H.O.T. toll lanes... Solo or 2 passenger motorists buying their way out of traffic? Paying solo commuters in the El Monte Busway, Harbor Transitway?
I think the only way this is going to work is that it follows either the 91 or I-15 toll policy, where one way single, or 2 person occupacy tolls are expensive during rush hour and that the toll lanes accept Fastrak only. There also has to be other transportation choices for systems like these to work properly for everyone (not just the rich). Park & Rides, kiss & rides, direct off/on ramp connections from the HOT lanes to activity and transit ceneters, and frequent transit should also be included in the planning process. This should help prevent the traffic from just shifting to the freeway lanes and side streets.
For example if HOT Lanes were built on the I-10 corridor east of El Monte, they should offer direct off/on ramp connections to Silver Streak station stops and the Silver Streak stations should offer amenities such as benches, shading, timed transfers, "minutes until next bus" signs, etc. This might be a good corridor (east of El Monte Busway) to do the test run of such a thing, but Metro should master plan this thing. I think just converting the carpool lanes to toll lanes without doing anything else will only shift the gridlock elsewhere.