High cost of traffic relief

To make sure the tsunami-sized population surge headed our way doesn't cripple the regional transportation system, Los Angeles County officials said Thursday we may have to start paying road tolls, higher gas and sales taxes and steeper transit fares. Sue Doyle in the Daily News.

With fewer transportation dollars coming from Sacramento and Washington, D.C., transit officials say the very motorists and passengers who will be clogging the system are a reliable source of money for new projects.

The bill?

Officials said some $30 billion for transit and highway projects is needed by 2030 to address the county's congestion problems.

It could mean adding tolls, increasing regional sales and gas taxes, raising public transit fares and developing public-and-private partnerships to expand the transportation infrastructure. The projects will be needed to accommodate the county's expanding population, expected to grow from 9.6 million to 13 million residents by 2050.