Uber, Lyft Rides In LA County Could Spike Under Metro Tax Plan

LOS ANGELES, CA — The cost of riding in an Uber or Lyft could soon spike under plans to institute a congestion fee for riding sharing in Los Angeles County.

The Metro Board of Directors voted Thursday to study the feasibility of such a tax, following in the steps of other major cities trying to mitigate the traffic impact of services such as Uber and Lyft. The move is likely to generate fierce opposition because of its cost to the ridesharing industry and impact on millions of commuters. Proponents argue, the funds could help offset the toll that so many more car rides take on the roads and quality of life in LA.

Cities such as Chicago have adopted the congestion pricing, levying a tax of 67 cents per trip, according to a Metro staff report. The report indicates success for such measures in cities such as Stockholm as well.

The pricing plan could involve a number of methods, including taxing drivers based on the number of miles they travel, or charging a fee for motorists to enter certain neighborhoods -- such as creating a boundary around a central district and then charging vehicles to cross that boundary.

Congestion pricing is one method the board is considering to help fund the "28 by '28" initiative that aims to complete 28 key road, transit and bicycle/pedestrian projects in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Many of the projects already are scheduled to be finished by 2028, but some would need accelerated funding to make the goal.

Metro Board member and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he hoped the discussions on the Olympics and congestion pricing could be kept separate.

"I speak about both of these, but I want to be clear that my private and public conversations have mirrored that these should be parallel, independent efforts, that folks think that `28 by '28' is about congestion pricing, or congestion pricing is about that," Garcetti said. "These are distinct efforts and it's important that our constituents understand that. They're both too important, they're both too difficult, they're both too critical to collapse them together."

Metro board member and Inglewood Mayor James Butts expressed some hesitation at the idea of a TNC tax, as it could impact visitor access to the large entertainment venues in his city, which includes The Forum, a new NFL stadium under construction and a proposed arena for the Los Angeles Clippers. He also said the Metro tax may preempt cities in the county from regulating TNCs.

"There may be an unintended consequence that we haven't thought out and I just want to put that out for the board to think and consider when we bring this back," Butts said.

According to a Metro staff report, the TNC tax could discourage single- use TNC rides and, instead, encourage pooled rides and mode shift to transit services, while the revenues could be "reinvested to improve the quality, reliability, safety and convenience of transit services and walking and biking access."

For congestion pricing, a Metro staff report said that it "can be a method of dramatically improving equity, mobility, and environmental outcomes to achieve Metro's strategic goals in the near-term, while also providing revenues for long-term capital projects."

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.