For Whom the Car Pool Tolls

Drivers might soon have to pay for the privilege of using the Southland's increasingly crowded car-pool lanes. Fred Ortega in the Daily News.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members asked staffers last week to look into "congestion pricing" to reduce traffic while raising funds for local transportation projects.

Measures being considered include a truck-only toll lane on the Long Beach Freeway and charging drivers for entering downtown Los Angeles during rush hour.

A similar program already in place in London, where drivers heading into the city center are charged the equivalent of $16 a day, is being examined as a possible model for future congestion pricing programs in L.A., Metro spokesman Marc Littman said.