Besides the Padres’ three-game sweep of the Dodgers this week, San Diego triumphed over its metropolitan neighbor to the north in another contest this week, the Los Angeles Times noted in an article today.
San Diego and eight other urban areas in the U.S. were named semifinalists in a competition for $1.1 billion in federal transportation funding, while the famously gridlocked Los Angeles was left off the list, the paper reported.
The key criterion being considered in the U.S. Department of Transportation’s review of the cities’ bids is “congestion pricing,” a concept that L.A. did not advocate for in its application. Congestion pricing bases the toll on a highway or bridge on the demand for the use of that thoroughfare.
The idea is not particularly popular among voters in Los Angeles, the paper said, but has been embraced by officials here:
The concept of congestion pricing, however, has not been a roadblock in heavily Republican and tax-averse San Diego County, where officials propose using the federal grant money to expand an existing toll system on Interstate 15.
Under their proposal, 24 miles of Interstate 15 between downtown San Diego and Escondido would have up to four reversible lanes that would be open to carpools, vanpools and buses. People who drive alone would pay to use those lanes.