Metro considers adding more pay-to-drive express lanes to Southland freeways

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Metro is considering adding more toll lanes to local freeways. Supporters hope it will shorten commute times for those who pay and bring in more money for future projects.

"People want relief. This is a quality-of-life matter," said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

If you've ever been stuck on a freeway during rush hour - or any hour - you know he's right.

Ridley-Thomas is looking to do something about it. He and the rest of the county board voted to look into adding express lanes to more local freeways.

Right now, the 10 and 110 freeways are the only county freeways to have the pay-to-drive lanes.

"It didn't take long for the 405 Freeway to start waiving its hand saying, 'Can we get some consideration over here?'" Ridley-Thomas said.

Ridley-Thomas said they're looking to expand because of how successful the program has been. It was originally estimated that 100,000 transponders would be in use by now, but the total is more than 250,000, bringing in more than a million dollars of revenue a month and increasing the number of people leaving their cars at home.

"Along the corridors, the 110 and 10, public transportation has increased," Ridley-Thomas said.

Of the commuters we spoke with, some had a transponder and some did not. But most people agreed that if you're willing to pay the extra money, you'll like to see the program expand.

"I think most people would pay to not have the traffic and the stress of the traffic, because its stressful," said Teresa Decastro, a Los Angeles commuter.

Authorities say it may take about six months to a year to choose which freeways may become the test projects for the new express lanes. From then, they said it could take years until it's fully implemented.