Los Angeles Metro ExpressLanes Low Income Assistance Program Metro System Map

Current System: I-10 I-110 Under Construction: I-105 Planned: I-405 I-10 extension I-605 LA County: 10 million residents ca. 515 freeway miles 2 Metro ExpressLanes Program Goals

Safety & Provide a safe, reliable, predictable commute for customers of the ExpressLanes Reliability

Throughput Reinforce Metro’s efforts to increase vehicle occupancy rates and transit ridership

Service Provide excellent customer service

Economics Use dynamic pricing to manage traffic and optimize throughput in the corridor

Sustainable Operate and maintain a self-sustaining ExpressLanes program

Growth Utilize any surplus toll revenue for corridor improvements and system expansion

3 ExpressLanes – Sample Cross-Section

Dynamically Priced

Ranging from 10 cents to $2.10 per mile*

*May adjust (10₵) quarterly, based on congestion. 4 ExpressLanes – Equity and Fairness

Free roads subsidize driving, and the wealthy drive (and benefit) the most.

The transportation-disadvantaged are more likely to take transit than drive.

Road pricing keeps transit moving.

Road users benefit from free roads, while nearby non-users must deal with the generalized costs: pollution, noise, reduced safety, reduced mobility.

Points are adapted from a 2017 article by Prof. Michael Manville, UCLA. https://medium.com/100-hours/is-congestionpricing-fair-to-the-poor-62e281924ca3 5 ExpressLanes – Corridor Enhancements

Reinvest the revenue so that those who incur the costs also receive the benefits.

Because generalized costs impact the surrounding communities, those communities should receive the benefits.

Keep revenues focused on transportation investments.

6 Points are adapted from a UCLA lecture by Robert Campbell, PhD (spring 2020). Low Income Assistance Plan

➢ Only program of its kind in the country. Low-Income Assistance Plan Eligibility ➢ Qualifying County residents can receive a one- Household Income time $25 credit when they set up their FasTrak account Size Threshold* (proof of eligibility required). 1 $25,520 • The $25 credit can be applied to either the transponder deposit or 2 $34,480 pre-paid toll deposit. 3 $43,440 • With this plan the $1 monthly account maintenance fee is also waived. 4 $52,400 5 $61,360 ➢ To qualify for the Low-Income Assistance Plan, you must: 6 $70,320 • Be a Los Angeles County resident 7 $79,280 • Have an annual household income equal to or less than the amounts 8 $88,240 shown in the table: * This threshold is twice the 2020 Federal Poverty Level

7 Low Income Assistance Plan Outcomes

Number of Low Income Assistance Plan Distribution of Low Income Accounts by Year Assistance Plan Accounts

17,049

14,200

10,835

7,378

5,091

0 0

FY2014 FY2015 FY2016 FY2017 FY2018

Sources: 1. Los Angeles Congestion Reduction Demonstration (LA CRD) ExpressLanes Program National Evaluation: Technical Memorandum on Congestion, Tolling, Transit, and Equity Results. US Department of Transportation. April 11, 2014. 2. ExpressLanes FY2018 Operations Performance Report. Metro Board Report 2018-0560. Transit Rewards and other programs

Transit Frequent transit riders and FasTrak accountholders can earn a $5 toll credit to use on the Rewards on I-10 and I-110 Metro ExpressLanes through the Transit Rewards program.

Transit To receive toll credit, transit riders must use their registered TAP card and take 16 one- Rewards way trips during peak hours along the I-10 or I-110 Harbor Transitway.

Carpool Carpool Loyalty Program – Monthly drawings to win toll credits Loyalty

Clean Air Clean Air Vehicle Discounts – 15% off posted toll Vehicles

9 Net Toll Revenue Reinvestment Targets System Connectivity and Transit Active Transportation Roadway Improvements

Target: 40% of funds Target: 40% of funds Target: 20% of funds Examples: Examples: Examples: • Purchase of new vehicles • Complete Streets projects • Incident Management • Fare subsidy programs • Bicycle infrastructure • Signal Synchronization • Station enhancements • First/Last Mile Connections • Intelligent Transportation Systems Program Analysis Low Income Assistance Plan accountholders make more ExpressLanes trips on average than standard accountholders after adjusting for the effect of income on total annual miles driven. This includes trips that are charged the SOV toll rates, suggesting that the LIAP is effective at reducing barriers to entry for ExpressLanes among low-income users. Account Type SOV Rate HOV2 Rate HOV3 Rate Total Rate LIAP Accountholders 17.30 30.36 39.30 86.96 Standard Accountholders (raw) 23.40 15.58 17.17 56.15 Standard Accountholders (corrected) 17.29 11.52 12.69 41.50

Average number of trips made per account on an annualized basis, by account type and toll rate charged.

11 Questions?

Mark Linsenmayer Deputy Executive Officer LA Metro – ExpressLanes [email protected] 12 References

➢ Comparison of Metro ExpressLanes to other Express Lanes in the US, and other Toll Facilities in California. Shows that Metro is the only agency in the country offering a Low Income Assistance Plan. https://metro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3834755&GUID=380251A6-FECE-4EDC-ABDE-334ABAAD2E08 (Attachment D)

➢ Annual Funding Breakdown for Incremental Transit Service. Shows how much Metro ExpressLanes invests annually in transit service. https://metro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3891894&GUID=DE686BEF-3EC2-45E5-8C52-A868DA9C7259 (Attachment B)

➢ Metro ExpressLanes Net Toll Revenue Reinvestment Guidelines. Provides target breakdown of fund allocations, and example projects. https://metro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2477387&GUID=E7C14874-7787-4916-B255-224BA0B679D0 (Attachment A)

➢ ExpressLanes FY2018 Operations Performance Report. Provides data on Low Income Assistance Plan, including number of accounts. https://metro.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3702654&GUID=2CA58BBB-743D-4F16-9F17-1E73BFD6AC00 (Attachment A)

➢ Future of Metro ExpressLanes. Provides summary of one-year evaluation results for ExpressLanes, including equity considerations. https://media.metro.net/board/Items/2014/04_april/20140424rbmitem34.pdf

➢ Los Angeles Congestion Reduction Demonstration (LA CRD) ExpressLanes Program. National Evaluation: Technical Memorandum on Congestion, Tolling, Transit, and Equity Results. Provides detailed description of one-year evaluation results for ExpressLanes. Also includes spatial analysis of home ZIP codes for Low Income Assistance Plan accountholders. https://media.metro.net/projects_studies/expresslanes/images/public_reports_fhwa_04-2014.pdf