Metro extends period to pay ExpressLanes violations

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Metro has become aware of an issue impacting those who receive violation notices for the ExpressLanes on the 10 and 110 freeways: some people are receiving the notices in the mail very close to the due date. Metro is also aware that many people don’t open their mail right away — by the time they do, the notices are due.

As a result, Metro is extending the time when payment (without penalties) is due to 14 days. Example: Let’s say you were traveling in the ExpressLanes without a transponder today and are cited. The notice takes three to six days to be mailed. If it’s mailed on June 11, you would have until June 25 to pay it, either online, over the phone (call 511 and say “ExpressLanes”), at an ExpressLanes customer service center (see below) or by U.S. mail (see instructions on the violation notice).

Harbor Gateway FasTrak Walk In Center
500 West 190th Street, Gardena, CA 90248

Hours: Monday-Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday 9am-1pm

El Monte FasTrak Walk In Center
3501 Santa Anita Avenue, El Monte, CA 91731

Hours: Monday-Friday 8am-6pm, Saturday 9am-1pm

Categories: Feedback, Policy & Funding

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8 replies ›

  1. I see some drivers “skip” the transponder points on the I10, how is Metro going to curb that? It seems like an accident waiting to happen.

  2. Why not 30 days like a standard bill? Seems like an unreasonably tight turnaround.

  3. The real problem is the signage. It’s really not obvious in many places that you are entering a restricted zone. If they want to restrict lanes, they need better signage at EVERY entrance point to make it obvious that you can’t go in there without a transponder.

  4. From the 2012 financial statements, it looks like Metro takes 79 days to pay a bill (days in a/p). Asking Metro to wait 30 days for fine money before piling on more fines would seem fair.

  5. Agreed, the standard for bills is 30 to 60 day turnaround.

  6. 30 or 60 days from the date of issue would be much more reasonable.

  7. There’s so many flaws with the ExpressLanes that you have to wonder if they put any thought to this.

    What about car drivers with Canadian or Mexican license plates? Do we have some magical across-the-border license plate sharing scheme with Canada and Mexico to send out traffic citations to international car drivers who come visit L.A. with British Columbia or Baja California license plates? What’s stopping from car drivers to buy an expired vanity international license plate off of eBay and sticking those license plates to their cars? Switching out a license plate isn’t rocket science, all you need is a Philips head screwdriver and it can be done in under five minutes!

    And how long are taxpayers going to foot the bill for stamp prices, envelopes, and paper to send out these citations? Sending out snail mail to Canada and Mexico are more expensive and takes longer than domestic USPS mail. Why is Metro even doing everything so 20th century when one can do all of these things online? Has anyone in Metro ever thought of just doing online bill pay like I every single company out there? No one writes checks anymore. It’s too slow, things get lost in the mail, and stamp prices keep rising. They do it via online bill pay through their bank. Get in with the times!

    And what about rental cars? Has Metro thought about them? You go to the Metro ExpressLanes website and nothing is mentioned about rental cars. Who foots the bill for going through the ExpressLanes when driving a rental car? Hertz? Enterprise? Or the person renting the car? And if so, how is the person renting the car supposed to pay? Huh?

    It’s like “oh it sounds like a great idea, let’s do it.” Then they do it without thinking everything through and reality hits them hard that there’s so many variables which they never put into consideration.