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.

UTC

Related Content

  • June 29, 2022
    How public transit improves quality of life
    There are various reasons why Mobility as a Service is catching on more in Europe than the US – but there are still other ways in which access to mobility can be improved across the states, finds Gordon Feller
    Read More
  • March 28, 2018
    MaaSLab research assesses Londoners’ attitude to MaaS
    As delegates head for our second MaaS Market Conference, Colin Sowman examines a new report looking at the potential impact of Mobility as a Service on London’s travellers and transport providers. In the run-up to ITS International’s MaaS Market (London) conference, a new independent report examining the travelling public’s appetite for Mobility as a Service (MaaS) has been published. Until now, there has been no real evidence base to evaluate the extent to which MaaS could change travel behaviour in
    Read More
  • August 19, 2015
    Costing transit is complicated case
    David Crawford welcomes fresh thinking from Canada. Public transit improvements can bring society “significantly more value” than conventional transport models normally indicate, argues Canadian researcher Todd Litman. “Traditional evaluation practices originally developed to assess roadway improvements, and focus primarily on vehicle travel speeds and operating costs. “They do not generally quantify or monetise basic mobility benefits, vehicle ownership and parking cost savings, or efficient land developme
    Read More
  • May 8, 2019
    Cowlines app aims to bring MaaS to North America
    Europe is seen as leading the charge as providers battle to gain traction for their Mobility as a Service apps. But that could be about to change with the roll-out of Cowlines in North America It is widely agreed that Mobility as a Service (MaaS) platforms have the potential to replace a lot of urban private car journeys – more than 2.3 billion of them by 2023 in fact, according to Juniper Research. Implementation of MaaS options is likely to be quicker in Europe than in the US for a number of reasons (
    Read More

Highlighted Content