Gourt Home::Gourt :: 91 Express Lanes
The 91 Express Lanes is a ten-mile high-occupancy toll road / full tollway hybrid contained entirely within the median of the Riverside Freeway (California State Route 91) in Orange County, California, operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). The 91 Express Lanes run from the Costa Mesa Freeway interchange in Anaheim to the Riverside County line.
Background to tolling
During most hours of the day, high-occupancy tolls are charged only to operators of single occupant vehicles and vehicles with two occupants using the lanes. Carpoolers with three or more passengers, two seater vehicles with both seats occupied, motorcycles, vehicles with disabled placards, hybrid vehicles (with the appropriate sticker), and vehicles fueled by electricity or natural gas (with the appropriate stickers) are permitted to travel the road for free. But during the busiest two hours of the eastbound rush hour (4-6 p.m.), the lanes turn into a full toll road, charging all users, with discounts given to carpools with three or more persons. The carpool rules are enforced by a special video camera near the toll transceiver array or "booth" at the halfway point of the road. The camera room is occasionally staffed by a live person, and tapes are reviewed, to ensure that only carpoolers or other permitted vehicles get to travel for free or get the discount.
Tolls are collected when a vehicle carrying a FasTrak transponder mounted on the inside of the vehicle's windshield passes beneath the toll 'booth'. Other characteristics of the toll road include: variable toll based on time of day (i.e. variable pricing) with road signs alerting users to the toll to be paid; an alignment contained entirely within the median of the existing Riverside Freeway with two (2) lanes in each direction; limited access provided only at the east and west ends of the toll road (at which point the toll lanes become 'regular' carpool lanes; and separation between the regular, main lanes of the Riverside Freeway provided only by reflective yellow, 3' high, plastic lane markers (as opposed to concrete barriers or a similar 'solid' barrier). The roadway is not truly "congestion priced" because toll rates are set in a published schedule available on the 91 Express Lanes web site. True congestion pricing would vary the rate based on actual congestion, such as increasing the rates when a traffic accident blocks more than one of the "free" lanes. Changes to the toll schedule require notification to the public and approval by the OCTA board. Despite this, the toll lanes are generally free flowing during most peak hour conditions.
Tolls increase approximately twice a year as a reflection of the increasing traffic congestion in Southern California. Effective February 27, 2006, the toll on the busiest hours of the tollway (eastbound 4-6 p.m. on Thursday and 3-4 p.m. on Friday) will increase to $8.50, or 85 cents per mile, the highest toll for any toll road in the country. *
History
Due to rapid population growth and the decline in the availability of "affordable" housing closer to job centers in Orange County, new residential development began in earnest in western Riverside County (consistent with similar accelerated growth throughout the Inland Empire) during the 1980s, and continues to this day. This new development is occurring in or around existing cities such as Riverside, Corona, Norco, and Moreno Valley. As there are very few direct routes between Orange and Riverside Counties because of the Santa Ana Mountains that separate the two counties, the Riverside Freeway is subject to a very heavy traffic volume, comprised primarily of commuters traveling between where they work in Orange County and where they live in Riverside County (often referred to by traffic reporters as "The Corona Crawl")
Solutions to the traffic problem were limited. The chosen solution was to create a toll road in the median of the freeway. The toll road route operates between the Orange/Riverside county line and the Costa Mesa Freeway, California State Highway (CA/SR-55) interchange in eastern Anaheim - a distance of about 10 miles. The project was developed in partnership with the California Department of Transportation ((Caltrans)) by California Private Transportation Company (CPTC). CPTC formally transferred ownership of the facility to the State of California prior to opening the project to traffic on December 27, 1995. Caltrans then leased the toll road back to CPTC for a 35-year operating period. The new lanes have been officially designated a part of the California State Highway System. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is responsible for providing police services at CPTC's expense. Maintenance and operational costs for the facility are also the responsibility of CPTC. In April, 2002, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) reached an agreement in concept to purchase the private toll road project for $207.5 million. OCTA took possession of the Toll Road on January 3, 2003..
Opening in 1995, the 91 Express Lanes is the first privately funded tollway built in the United States since the 1940s, and the first fully automated tollway in the world.
The express lanes have been controversial because of a "non-compete" agreement that the state made with CPTC. The clause, which was negotiated by Caltrans and never was brought to the legislature, prevent any improvements along 30 miles of the Riverside Freeway to ensure profit for the express lanes. This includes restricting the state from widening the free lanes or building mass transit near the freeway.
In 2003, their ownership and operation was purchased by the Orange County Transportation Authority, marking the first time the 91 Express Lanes was managed by public officials. Within a few months, OCTA turned the lanes into the HOT / tollway hybrid that it is today.
But as a result of the controversy, more toll road advocates favor creating local agencies similar to Transportation Corridor Agencies to build and maintain future tollways. New toll roads would be financed with tax-exempt bonds on a stand-alone basis -- taxpayers would not be responsible for repaying any debt if toll revenues fall short. And there would be a less restrictive "non-compete" clause: They would only be compensated for any revenue loss caused by improvements near the toll roads.
Meanwhile, OCTA announced a proposal in 2005 to study an 11-mile tunnel through the Santa Ana Mountains and along fault lines to help relieve traffic on the 91. The proposal is opposed by environmental groups, cities in Orange County near the terminus of the proposed road, and by the Irvine Company, which believes that the tunnel is not necessary and distracts from short term solutions such as freeway widening.
References
- Tollway Trial at a Dead End in California by Dan Weikel. Los Angeles Times. July 7, 2002
External links
Southern California freeways | Toll roads in California | High-occupancy toll roads | Orange County Transportation Authority
"91 Express Lanes"