Metro Votes To Study Congestion Pricing, Imposing Fees On Ride-Sharing Services
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Not only will Metro begin studying the idea of charging for the privilege of driving into high-traffic areas, the transportation agency is considering adding fees for the use of ride-sharing services and electric scooters.
The Metro board, which has been considering several ideas for months to cut down on traffic and fund major transportation projects before the Olympics come to Los Angeles in the summer of 2028, voted unanimously Thursday to move forward on feasibility studies on congestion pricing and new fees on ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.
The congestion pricing models discussed most frequently include charging drivers to drive on major highways and freeway, toll-road type expressways currently in use on the 10 and 110 freeways, and fees for driving into high-traffic areas like downtown Los Angeles or LAX. Metro's next move is to determine where to test these congestion pricing models.
Metro's decision to study extra fees on ride-sharing services follows in the footsteps of other big cities like New York, Washington D.C. and Chicago. San Francisco, which is currently in the processing of imposing similar fees, found that ride-sharing vehicles make up 15 percent of its overall traffic, and at rush hour on Friday afternoons, 6,500 ride-share vehicles are on the road, according to Metro.
The ultimate goal of Metro's efforts are to fund as many as 28 major transportation projects before the 2028 Olympics, but also to cut down on traffic and encourage people to carpool or use public transportation.
