Meeting_Body
AD HOC CONGESTION REDUCTION COMMITTEE
JUNE 17, 2015
Subject/Action
SUBJECT: LOS ANGELES COUNTY EXPRESS LANES STRATEGIC PLAN
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE status report on the Los Angeles County Express Lanes Strategic Plan.
Issue
ISSUE
In November 2014 the Metro Board directed staff to prepare an ExpressLanes Strategic Plan and provide the first update of the plan no later than June 2015. The motion requested that the Strategic Plan is to include the following three items:
1. Identify and recommend potential corridors that can benefit from ExpressLanes conversion;
2. Development and execution of a Master Cooperative Agreement with Caltrans to jointly execute Project Study Report/Project Development Support (PSR/PDS), Project Approval/Environmental Document (PA/ED) and/or other technical studies for future ExpressLanes corridors.
3. Development of a 10-year and 30-year resource plan for existing and future ExpressLanes corridors.
This report is the first update to the Board on the ExpressLanes Strategic Plan.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
The Los Angeles County ExpressLanes Strategic Plan is being prepared as an extension of SCAG’s (Southern California Association of Governments) Regional ExpressLanes Strategic Plan, which has been in progress since March 2013. The Los Angeles County Strategic Plan uses the same analysis methodology as the Regional Strategic Plan to estimate the potential mobility benefits and revenue generated by HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lane projects. In addition, the plan will also include a prioritized list of projects for the County, financial analysis of potential net revenue that could be generated, and the funding requirements for new ExpressLane projects. This approach ensures that the Los Angeles County Strategic Plan is consistent with the Regional Strategic Plan, minimizes duplication of effort, and reduces the cost and time needed to prepare the plan.
There are two components of the strategic plan analysis - corridor screening and financial feasibility. The corridor analysis utilizes both the SCAG Regional Travel Demand Model and RapidTOM (Toll Optimization Model) model to analyze freeway corridors in the county. In doing so, the SCAG model is first used to forecast traffic volume in 2035. RapidTOM then uses SCAG model output and identifies the number of vehicles willing to pay to use a HOT lane under different tolling and mobility scenarios.
For this study, only freeways with existing, in construction, or planned HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes were considered for conversion into HOT lanes. The corridor screening analysis also assumes the minimum Level of Service (LOS) will be 45 miles per hour in the HOT lane, and that vehicles with three or more occupants will be allowed free use of the HOT lane. However, it should be noted that any decisions related to conversion of HOT2+ or HOT3+ will be made by the Board in conjunction with Caltrans input.
Five mobility criteria were used to evaluate the corridors based on output from the SCAG regional model and RapidTOM. Those criteria are: 1) value of travel time savings; 2) HOT lane person throughput; 3) average peak period vehicle speeds in the general purpose lanes; 4) transit benefits; and 5) connectivity to HOV lanes and existing ExpressLanes. Metro presented these criteria to the Task Development Team (TDT), which is comprised of Metro, Caltrans, and SCAG staff and the TDT concurred with these criteria.
The second component in the screening is a financial feasibility calculation. This calculation estimates net revenue for various ExpressLane corridors and the constructability/capital cost of converting the corridor from HOV to HOT operation. Net revenue assumes operation and maintenance costs based on actual costs incurred for the operation and maintenance of the I-110 and I-10 ExpressLanes. Construction costs were estimated at a rough order of magnitude level. The resulting revenue/cost ratio will provide a general indication of the positive or negative revenue benefit of HOV to HOT conversion.
The results of the mobility and financial feasibility analysis will be used to place freeway corridors into three categories: projects recommended to be pursued in the first ten years of the plan, projects that could be pursued in the next ten to twenty years, and projects that could be pursued in the next twenty to thirty years. In addition, a ten and thirty year resource plan will be included that will estimate the financial requirements for potential new ExpressLane projects including construction, operation, and maintenance costs.
Concurrently, staff is working with Caltrans to develop the appropriate agreements per Board direction.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff will present the draft Strategic Plan to the Ad Hoc Congestion Reduction Committee in September 2015.
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Philbert Wong, Transportation Planning Manager, (213)922-2642
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Kathleen McCune, Director, Congestion Reduction (213)922-7241
Shahrzad Amiri, Executive Officer, Congestion Reduction (213)922-3061
