Understanding the Principles of Congestion Pricing and the Metro ExpressLanes

On September 24, 2025, USC ITE had the distinct pleasure of hosting Robert Campbell, PhD, on the USC campus. Dr. Campbell is a Senior Manager of Metro ExpressLanes as well as a former student of our faculty advisor, Professor Shen! Our members draw from all different disciplines, ranging from the Price School of Public Policy, the Viterbi School of Engineering, and even the School of Dramatic Arts, all with a keen interest in learning more about transportation systems in Los Angeles. With LA’s infamous traffic, we wanted to learn more about what Metro is doing to tackle congestion.

Drawing from his educational background in Civil and Environmental Engineering, Dr. Campbell explained the core concepts of congestion and freeway flow. On average, a freeway lane’s maximum capacity is 1,800 cars. When a driver decides to get onto the freeway at capacity, this private decision, on average, costs 2 seconds of delay to each individual driver on the now congested freeway. Drivers often do not take into consideration the social costs as well as the externalities caused by their private decisions. Externalities include air and noise pollution to the surrounding communities, as well as contributing to the congestion caused by overcapacity. Metro ExpressLanes try to address these externalities and put a price on using a lane–the congestion toll–for individuals to internalize the externality.

ExpressLanes are on the I-10 and I-110, where a dedicated lane, usually the left-most lane, of the freeway is tolled. Depending on the time and number of cars on the freeway, the price to use the lane fluctuates based on demand. Dr. Campbell had a fantastic interactive activity for us to contemplate. If we were all locked into this building and the only way to get out was to wait one hour or pay a certain amount, what would you do? A majority of our members were willing to pay, with one member willing to pay up to $60! Dr. Campbell explained that this was the core principle of congestion pricing–being able to accurately connect people’s demand with their willingness to pay.

So what does ExpressLanes do with the money? Dr. Campbell said that on average, ExpressLanes generate over 80 million dollars in revenue; however, the money is reinvested in communities along the freeway after operational costs, which are impacted by severe air and noise pollution. These cities can then reinvest in their own transportation networks. Another core concept of congestion pricing is time as a sunk cost, as drivers can lose up to 40 hours sitting in traffic. By pricing lanes based on demand, time is given a monetary value, where drivers can “get the time back” through investments in transportation systems. Dr. Campbell also addressed the common equity concerns regarding low-income communities being priced out of ExpressLanes. He stated that, on average, wealthy individuals drive and contribute to traffic much more than lower-income individuals, and those who must drive can receive access subsidies from ExpressLanes.  Additionally, transit-dependent individuals benefit from the reduced congestion and from additional transit investments brought through the lanes’ revenue.

At the end of his lecture, Dr. Campbell brought some cool ExpressLanes swag for all of us–and for those who were courageous enough to raise their hands and ask questions, they got a bonus ExpressLanes tumbler! We thank Dr. Campbell for his time and his expertise!