Meeting_Body
AD HOC CONGESTION, HIGHWAY AND ROADS COMMITTEE
APRIL 11, 2018
Subject
SUBJECT: EXPRESSLANES CLEAN AIR VEHICLE POLICY
Action
ACTION: APPROVE RECOMMENDATION
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
ADOPT the Clean Air Vehicle toll discount policy.
Issue
ISSUE
Current ExpressLanes policy allows designated Clean Air Vehicles (CAVs) with valid DMV decals to access the Metro ExpressLanes for free at all times. However, as CAV penetration rates have risen, the ability to effectively manage ExpressLanes demand and to continue to meet performance targets regarding speed, reliability, and value to ExpressLanes customers has suffered because CAV users are artificially segregated from the population of paying customers and cannot be controlled using price signals.
At the time of the opening of the ExpressLanes, the number of CAV decals issued statewide was 30,000. Since then, that number has increased almost 1000% to 302,453 as of January 1, 2018, with an average annual increase of approximately 54,000 decals per year.
Concurrently, over the past two years, the penetration rate of Clean Air Vehicles in the most congested segment of the ExpressLanes has doubled. Measurements on I-110 North ExpressLanes in the vicinity of Slauson Ave from the first half of 2016 during the weekday AM Peak showed that CAVs constituted 3% of all ExpressLanes traffic. Corresponding measurements from the second half of 2017 revealed that this penetration rate had jumped to 6%.
For insight into the effect of CAVs on the current performance of ExpressLanes, a 6% change in peak period volumes corresponds to a travel time savings of 15 minutes and a speed improvement of 13 mph on I-110 North ExpressLanes. Additional details are shown in Attachment A.
It should be noted that the rise in CAV penetration rates in the ExpressLanes is only one of several variables correlated with the decline in speeds. Other contributing factors may include increases in occupancy switch setting violatio...
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