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Feds Bribe LA County with $213.6 Million for HOT Lanes

Image: CBS News

The feds are bribing Los Angeles County with $213.6 million in federal tax dollars to create High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes on the 210, 10, and 110 freeways. The hope is to reduce congestion in the car pool lanes, which have slowed to a crawl.

Here’s how it would work. LA would convert its existing car pool lanes to HOT lanes, which would charge a toll based on the amount of congestion on the road. The more congestion, the higher the toll. Single occupant cars would be allowed into the HOT lanes if they pay the toll. Hybrid cars, which are currently allowed in the car pool lanes, would also have to pay the toll. Cars with 3+ riders would get to use the toll lanes for free.

LA County transportation officials have unanimously approved the proposal. Now it has to go to the state, where it will likely pass. If so, the HOT lanes would go into effect in 2010.

This is a horrible idea, for the following reasons:

First, the reason why the car pool lanes are congested is that LA County let hybrid cars drive in them because they’re more worried about the environment and global warming than they are about commuters. In other words, LA County caused this problem with its feel-good policies.

Second, the prime motivating factor for LA County transportation officials is the $213.6 million federal bribe, which they plan to spend on 60 buses and small upgrades for the Metro in the San Gabriel Valley. In other words, this is not about improving traffic. It is about getting federal money and immediately spending it.

Third, the HOT lanes will be very expensive because the pricing has to be high enough to remove a significant number of drivers from the car pool lanes. If the HOT lanes cost only a few dollars, most people would pay up. So the government will have to price the lanes so that enough drivers don’t want to use them.

Fourth, the logical outcome of moving traffic from the car pool lanes to the regular lanes is more congestion in the already congested regular lanes. This idea that the HOT lanes will improve everyone’s commute is nonsense. They are simply shifting cars from one lane to another.

In other words, there is nothing about this proposal that is in the best interests of everyday commuters.