L.A. County enters era of freeway toll lanes Even since the first ribbon of concrete was laid from downtown to Pasadena in the late 1930s, the mantra of Los Angeles car culture has been that freeways should be free. L.A. County's first officially recognized freeway, hugging the contours of the Arroyo Seco, gave way to a network of connecting highways that came to define the growing metropolis as a proudly toll-free region of the country. But Saturday marks a break with that legacy. For the first time, L.A. County officials will begin charging motorists to use carpool lanes on an 11-mile stretch of the 110 Freeway from downtown to the South Bay. The 110 express lanes mark the area's first effort at "congestion pricing," in which officials allow solo drivers to use less-crowded carpool lanes to cut their commutes by two to three minutes a mile on average - if they are willing to pay as much as $15.40 per trip. Toll lanes are already in place in other areas including Orange County, but L.A. County has resisted the idea for years. Not anymore. If all goes as planned, a 14-mile toll lane along the 10 Freeway from Union Station to the 605 Freeway will open early next year. And officials acknowledged this week that they are considering even more carpool lane conversions. One that has gotten considerable attention is the lane being built along the 405 Freeway on the Westside. Once that is completed, the 405 will have contiguous carpool lanes from south Orange County to the San Fernando Valley, a tantalizing prize for advocates of congestion pricing. "The region, especially L.A. County, we have a pretty dense network of [carpool] lanes," said Doug Failing of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. I really think they're all up for consideration. Transportation officials and some experts say the 110 Freeway experiment is a long-overdue, winning improvement that should benefit all drivers. It will reduce travel times for those willing to pay, they predict, and relieve congestion on the remainder of the freeway as solo commuters shift out of those lanes. "It's about time," said Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at UCLA who has long advocated for toll lanes. They work in San Diego; they work in many other cities. We have the worst congestion ... and it's odd that we're one of the last cities to try it out. As of late last week, about 30,000 transponders, which generally cost about $40 and are needed to travel in the lanes, had been purchased, and several motorists said they resented having to fork over the money. Many derided the tolls as another hit by government on their paychecks. "Look at all the tax fees we're paying already ... then they're coming out with this," said Lisa Lavine, 45, outside the Gardena office where transponders are sold. We shouldn't have to pay to use the everyday freeway. Others complained that the new program was a perverse punishment for those who have heeded officials' calls to carpool. Like solo drivers, ride-sharers will need to purchase transponders. But they won't have to pay the tolls - which vary from 25 cents to $1.40 a mile based on traffic congestion. The average toll for solo drivers is expected to be between $4 and $7 per trip, officials said. Nelly Diaz, 38, said she never drives the 110 solo. But she's still "not very happy," she said in Spanish outside the Gardena sales office. I always travel with my kids. It's always easy for me, but now I have to pay. The new "ExpressLanes" are taking over existing carpool lanes between the Harbor Gateway Transit Center near Torrance and Adams Boulevard, just south of downtown.