The OCTA or the Orange County Transportation Authority
….recently raised the rates on the 91 Freeway…..to
$9.50 one way….to get to Riverside if you want the
carpool lane. Why does “elitist” never get mentioned
when people talk about “congestion pricing” for Toll
Roads? Let’s see now, a guy lives in Riverside and wants
to go to work at the Wal-Mart in Garden Grove. Guess,
he might want to car pool with six other people that live
in Riverside so they could get home about midnight after
they drop everyone off….just like the Super Shuttle
does when it picks you up at LAX and gets you back to
Lake Forest after 15 drop off points or people.
You see, in the “Good old days”…Public Transportation
included Buses that actually ran on our Freeways. There
are still a few Bus lanes on the 110 Freeway up by the
LA City Hall….but you don’t see Buses on Freeways any
more. Why? What ever happened to those Continental
Trailways and Greyhound Buses that used to so occupy our
minds. Remember the famous tag line: “Anything coming
Joe? Nah, just a dog!” Oops, you mean a Greyhound Bus
that used to flatten anything in its way? Well, now the
modern SUV Dragons have taken over the business originally
reserved for Buses. Is their anything more ridiculous than
an SUV driver on your back bumper at 80 MPH? But hey, they
have ABS Brakes….they are unafraid….but how about you?
Yes, back when….you could get from the Draft Induction
Center near 6th and Main..then right by the Continental
Trailways office back to Santa Ana….for $2.50..maybe
$4.00 dollars round trip. Well, no more! You now have to
take the Amtrak from Union Station to get to Santa Ana.
But if you land at LAX…how are you going to get to
Downtown LA and Union Station?
Ok…back to the original problem: $9.50 one way on Fast
Trak and the $238 million dollar boondoggle sold to the
County OCTA to run. Actually, when this was brought up
back in May of 2000 the price was closer to $145 million.
But hey, pretty soon you just need to get those pesky
middle men involved, like county bureaucrats and also
everyone needs to get a taste and boom….$238 million
sounded just fine. By 2005, the one way cost on the 91,
before they so called improved it….was $3.50 one way
…which was a rip even then. That however was when
“Private Industry” owned it and were taking “their taste”.
So, when the County bought it.. (The Tollway…that is!)
they quickly lowered the price to $2.75 to show everyone
that the $238 Million investment was worth the cost to
the people.
So, we now have half of the Cleaning people in Southern
California, most of the COSTCO, Wal-mart, Home Depot,
Target, CVS and Rite-Aid workers…all coming down the
91 Freeway with their FAST TRAK sensors..clicking away.
Sometimes, they just forget to move the sensor from one
car to another and then they get tagged big time for
being on the Toll Way without a sensor. John Moorlach
mentioned back in May of 2000 that people who were on
vacation and visiting California couldn’t get those Toll
Road Sensors. Well, now that he is not only a Supervisor
and a member of the OCTA Board…maybe someday “anyone”
will be able to pick up these sensors at their local
Automobile Club or Chamber of Commerce for each town.
But hey, in the meantime, they are too busy raising the
Toll Rates and enforcing their various innocuous rules
for their high techie Toll Roads.
So, eventually how much do you think the ceiling on Toll
Rates on the 91 Freeway will be? Do you think $50 bucks one
way will be enough? And does anyone care? Well, you might
want to care when they attempt to “Privatize” or have the
OCTA buy your local Freeway…like the 22 or the 55 or even
the 5 or 405. Think we are crazy? Well, keep your favorite
pens and keyboards handy….these politicians love taking
money from people that can’t afford it. Just look in your
rear view mirror….a Black SUV..is probably on your bumper
right now!
This increase is outrageous. There should be an investigation and a real head chopping spree to ensue.
Good topic, I do not like the supporting statements though. First you bag on SUV’s then you say most of the cleaning people and those working in retail are coming down the 91. who is to say those working at CVS are not driving the SUV’s? and I can guarantee it is a lot more than service workers carpooling and taking the toll. I should know. I did it as well.
And what’s is wrong with owning an SUV? WHat if you have three kids and need a larger car? Are you gonna come down on them too?
However, you have a valid point. $9.50 to come down the toll is preposterous. The price has tripled in the blink of an eye. You have to wonder why.
I for one take public transportation from Riverside County. I can either take the OCTA bus express or take the train. I prefer the train. Both are cheaper than driving.
Carlos dude….how do you
think you can get seven
people comfortably into a
Toyota Camry? Most of the
SUV drivers coming from
Riverside and San Berdo…
are carpooling in SUV’s.
See a lot a big 3/4 ton
Ford and GMC pick-ups that
Construction guys use to.
They are always late (our
point!) and always sitting
on someone’s bumper! Thanks
for agreeing with us on the
outrageous Toll fees!
Privatize the freeways. Issue all stakeholders stock. Charge what ever the market will bear.
Why should the government control such a monopoly?
You don’t get it.
OCTA will continue wratcheting up the tolls to keep the flow of traffic at a predetermined speed.
Suck it up. It may be $9.50 today but don’t think that’s the cap.
The peak direction tolls will reach $14.50 for less than the current 10 miles. Larry, are you serious. Yes I am.
This will occur on or before 2025.
Hi Ron and Anna
while I agree wholeheartedly with your outrage. I was outraged too when learned I had to pay 7 bucks and change one way on the toll back when I moved to Riverside County. However, I do not want to knit pick but very respectfully I ask where do you get your data in regards to most people driving SUV’s out of Riverside County are carpooling?
As far as sitting 7 people in a Camry comfortably…well we Mexicans have done that for years!!! 🙂
only kidding… I am Mexican so don’t flame me ok…I was just trying to lighten things up…
My question to all, is what would be the appropriate solution to moving people from the IE to the OC? I have really become a firm believer in public transportation. I take the train and then an OCTA bus now. It is the best! I can sleep on the train and the OCTA shuttle drops me off a block from work.
The commute time is 20 minutes shorter too!!
I think light rail might be something to continue to study, also the usage of more OCTA express buses. Who knows I am no expert merely a satisfied customer.
The Inland Empire…..oh
no NOT the Inland Empire..
we remember when houses
were being built out on the
edges of Carona…people
couldn’t believe they wanted
$29,995 for a small three
bedroom house. The 91 FWY
was clogged like the perverbial pickle in a jar.
Mexicans? No..what they
need is a Riverside and
San Berdo coalition of
Counties and Cities that
decides that the State should solve this problem.
They should get the OC and
LA Counties to concurr. They should start Express
Bus Service for the Center
of the 91 FWY from downtown
Transportation Centers and
then have Amtrack come riding to the rescue after
a few years to replace that
bus Service with rail service. The problem as
usual…is: Where do you
dump 100,000 people a day
in Orange County? Where
do you get the infrastructure to get then
local transporation to get
them to their jobs….where
do you get the cash to add
Shuttle Services to 15 cities serving Orange County? Lot’s of questions
and few reality based answers that will work. Everything sounds good on
paper…but when the details
hit the road…problems..and
ugly realities raise their
very unforgiving heads! It
may all boil down to this:
Get every lady that lives
on Newport Coast to take
Public Transporation to the
South Coast Plaza or Costco
north of the 405 in Fountain
Valley. Think that is doable? As we said: Tough
going ahead! Good comments
though Carlos!