O.C. toll road price drops to attract commuters

L.A. Times ^ | March 27, 2009 | Tony Barboza

[TruthHound]

The cost of a 10-mile trip on the 91 Freeway Express Lanes will drop 50 cents during seven time slots through the day starting Wednesday. Officials hope to encourage drivers to use the lanes.

In another reflection of the weakening economy and the growing unemployment rate, the price of an Express Lane commute between Orange and Riverside counties is being reduced in a bid to attract more paying customers.

Orange County transportation officials Thursday announced reductions to the tolls to enter the 91 Freeway Express Lanes, citing less traffic due to unemployment and the soured economy.

Starting Wednesday, the cost of the 10-mile commute will drop 50 cents during seven time slots throughout the day, ranging from $1.25 during the lightly traveled nighttime hours to $9.55 for a rush hour commute to Riverside. At rush hour, the toll on the Express Lanes is one of the highest per-mile rates in the nation.

Trips along the commuter-heavy corridor have dipped nearly 15% over the last eight months, with revenue falling 12.5%, officials said.

The hope is that the price break -- the third on the route in five months after nearly half a decade of rate hikes -- will encourage more drivers to veer into the lanes, along the middle of the freeway from Anaheim to the Riverside County line.

"You have significantly fewer jobs in both Orange County and Riverside County and the need for using the toll lanes has dropped," said Joel Zlotnik, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

*snip*

[TruthHound]

Y'think there's a lesson for our dear politicians in Sacramento and DC?

This toll road is privately owned and managed. They have one motivation: to generate revenue.

And since the economy is choking off usage, an ass-toot public servant would surely say "profit's down...time to hike rates," RIGHT?

But what do these private sector profiteers decide is the best thing to do? They LOWER the price!

They must've been paying attention during all those years that treasury revenue ROSE when tax CUTS were enacted.

But now that single-digit I.Q.s are living in the Whitehouse, we're saddled with the dumb-ass double whammy--higher taxes and lower revenue.

They'll never learn.

[bgill]

10 bucks for 10 miles? They’ve got to be nuts.

[nufsed]

I paid for that road and others with my gas tax money. The state took my taxes and paid for benefits for people who are not in the country illegally. Now, if I want to use the road, I have to pay to do so.

[Michael.SF.]

The state took my taxes and paid for benefits for people who are not in the country illegally.

Well, we know what you meant to say.

Now, if I want to use the road, I have to pay to do so.

The article is about the 91 freeway. The express lanes are an option. You have 4 lanes or more of free lanes to choose from.

[1rudeboy]

This one is amusing in a way, because we were told this couldn’t happen.

[ml/nj]

I didn't know there were any toll roads in Southern Cal. (I know there's a toll on I80 east of SF, and there are the bridge tolls on the GGB and the Bay Bridge. I thought these were the only ones in California.)

ML/NJ

[nufsed]

Easier to count the ones who are not here illegally. LOL!

I am familiar with the 91 fwy. The company went bankrupt. My taxes paid for those lanes and now I am supposed to pay to use them, while my taxes went elsewhere contrary to state law.

[nufsed]

More bridges have tolls in Cal. Start Coronado Bridge to San Diego and work your way north to the Golden Gate.

[Toddsterpatriot]

That only happened because the toll road wasn't owned by evil furriners.

[org.whodat]

I have only this to say about toll roads, screw them and the people who own them, it is one of the most Anti-Amercan things that you can think up.