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LA Metro reports rising transponder adoption, early toll revenue and ridership gains on express lanes pilot
Summary
LA Metro briefed the commission on its express-lanes pilot in Los Angeles County, reporting more than 52,000 transponders issued, preliminary toll revenue and a 70% ridership increase on a connected bus rapid transit line.
Stephanie Wiggins, Metro executive officer for the congestion‑reduction initiative, updated the California Transportation Commission on Metro’s express‑lanes pilot and early operational results.
Wiggins said Metro converted two existing carpool lanes — the I‑110 (Harbor Freeway) corridor and the I‑10 (San Bernardino Freeway) corridor — to express (high‑occupancy toll) lanes and introduced a registration system requiring carpools to register a FastTrak transponder. She described a low‑income equity plan that provides a $25 toll credit and waives account maintenance for qualifying LA County households; Wiggins said about 3,000 households had enrolled in the equity program.
Preliminary performance: Wiggins reported more than 52,000 transponders in service across the corridors and said the I‑110 had generated about $5.5 million in toll revenue in its first five and a half months, while the I‑10 had generated about $1.1 million in its first two months. She said the I‑110 reached predeployment trip volumes after roughly four months and the I‑10 is approaching predeployment volumes more quickly, aided by higher transponder deployment at opening.
Transit impacts and person throughput: Metro is tracking person throughput (the agency’s target is moving more people, not more vehicles). Wiggins said carpools represent about 60 percent of volume in the 1‑10 corridor and that the Silver Line bus rapid transit introduced with the lanes has seen ridership grow more than 70 percent on that route.
Revenue use and reporting: Wiggins said gross toll revenue first covers operations and maintenance; Metro projects net revenue of roughly $8–$10 million and said revenues must be reinvested in the corridor that produced them (transit or carpool‑lane improvements). She noted the pilot is federally funded and that Metro and Caltrans will jointly report to the legislature at the end of the 12‑month pilot.
Questions from commissioners touched on whether general‑purpose lane speeds fell during the pilot ramp‑up (Metro said Caltrans is analyzing that data) and on national transponder interoperability required by MAP‑21; Wiggins said national interoperability discussions are underway and Metro is working with rental‑car companies to ease customer adoption.
Wiggins closed by recommending consistent statewide policies for tolling authority and performance reporting to support future projects.
