Los Angeles drivers may face congestion charge following study

After a century as the city of the automobile, Los Angeles is taking a major step on the road towards congestion charging. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMetro) is to explore road pricing and is also thinking about levying fees on ride-share companies for their part in creating gridlock. The moves are part of LAMetro’s ‘Re-imagining of Los Angeles County: Mobility, Equity and the Environment’ plan, which seeks policies to make transport sustainable in the famously-cong
March 6, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
After a century as the city of the automobile, Los Angeles is taking a major step on the road towards congestion charging.


The 1795 Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LAMetro) is to explore road pricing and is also thinking about levying fees on ride-share companies for their part in creating gridlock.

The moves are part of LAMetro’s ‘Re-imagining of Los Angeles County: Mobility, Equity and the Environment’ plan, which seeks policies to make transport sustainable in the famously-congested US city.

LAMetro will now conduct a 12-24 month ‘congestion relief pricing’ feasibility study to evaluate potential models and locations for possible tests.

These will include a ‘cordon model which charges a fee for anyone travelling into a designated zone - as well as a vehicle miles travelled (VMT) model which will apply charges based on the number of vehicle miles travelled within congested areas. In addition, a corridor model will charge drivers based on VMT within a congested corridor.

Upon completion of the study, the LAMetro board will consider a pilot programme to test the concept.

At the same time, as part of an equity strategy, it will develop a plan to improve transit services and investigate potential toll and fare discounts for low-income users.

LAMetro says it will investigate the possibility of imposing charges on new mobility modes, like electric scooters, and ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft, which contribute to congestion.

Sheila Kuehl, LA county supervisor and LAMetro board chair, says: “It’s easy for us to say ‘Fix traffic!’ but it’s going to take serious imagination and out-of-the-box thinking to actually do it.”

“We are ready to explore a whole panoply of ideas that can help reduce traffic, encourage shared trips and get more people on public transit,” Kuehl adds.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Continental: US road deaths are ‘public health crisis’
    June 6, 2019
    The 40,000 deaths on US roads last year amount to a ‘public health crisis’, according to Continental North America’s president Jeff Klei. Giving the opening keynote address at ITS America’s 28th Annual Meeting & Expo, Klei said: “If you could save 40,000 lives a year, would you? We believe this situation needs to be treated with the same priority as other health crises in this country.” But help is at hand, he said. The concept of ‘Vision Zero’, where there are no fatalities from crashes, “seems a lon
    Read More
  • Elon Musk’s underground movement
    August 3, 2020
    The Boring Company is building tunnels under various US cities – but for what? Kristina Smith delves deep into a project which may (eventually) have real appeal for mass transit providers and transportation agencies
    Read More
  • Bologna rewards ‘green’ travel with free beer
    November 1, 2018
    Travellers in the Italian city of Bologna are being incentivised to give up their cars with the offer of beer, ice cream or cinema tickets. An anti-pollution initiative rewards people who cycle, walk or take public transport. A hundred local businesses have signed up to the programme – called Bella Mossa (or ‘Good Job’) - to give away discount vouchers, the BBC reports. Funded by the European Union and Bologna’s local government, Bella Mossa runs for six months of the year. Users download an app, log thei
    Read More
  • Mixed results for public-private traffic management partnerships
    January 25, 2012
    David Crawford looks at the somewhat patchy success to date of trying to involve the private sector in operating traffic management centres
    Read More

Highlighted Content