HOT LANES: Metro announces opening of first Los Angeles County HOT lanes

Officials with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) announced Tuesday that the county’s first high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes are set to open on November 10. The new lanes—located along 11 miles of the 110 Harbor Freeway—will debut on November 10.

All motorists will be required to have a FasTrak account and transponder to use the lanes; car pools, van pools, buses and motorcycles will be charged a toll while solo drivers will not.

Toll prices will vary per mile from 25 cents per mile to $1.40 depending on current traffic. Various sensors will be used to determine traffic flow at any given time.

The Metro ExpressLanes project is a one-year demonstration facilitated by Metro and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to reduce traffic in the area, focusing on the 110 Harbor Freeway and the I-10 San Bernardino Freeway. HOT lanes are being created on both highways from existing high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.

The I-10 HOT lanes are scheduled to open to traffic in early 2013.