GETTING TO WORK: Pump prices fluctuate, while rail service and tolls are subject to increases.

10:00 PM PDT on Monday, July 3, 2006

By PHIL PITCHFORD
The Press-Enterprise

As the price of gasoline dips, commuters are facing higher costs on several other fronts.

The cost of taking the Metrolink commuter rail service jumped about 5.5 percent on Saturday. An increase on some tolls on the 91 Express Lanes took effect the same day. And the cost increase for using the 241 toll road between Yorba Linda and south Orange County kicked in Monday.

The cost increases come as what's bedeviled commuters most -- gasoline prices -- have continued to drop for about seven weeks, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. Fuel prices have been trending downward for several weeks from an all-time high in mid-May.

The cost of a gallon of self-service, regular gasoline averaged $3.206 in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to an Auto Club survey late last week. That represents a drop of about 2.9 cents from the previous week and a decrease of 8.7 cents from two weeks ago.

Prices in some areas are even lower. Web sites that track gasoline prices around the Inland area were reporting prices as low as $3.04 recently. Gas even dipped to $2.99 per gallon in Orange County recently, although it is unclear whether the rest of the region will follow suit, said Auto Club spokeswoman Marie Montgomery.

"Some places have gotten down that low," Montgomery said. "But that is anyone's guess."

The Metrolink price increase is designed to help eliminate inequities in the rail line's pricing system, spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said. It also is dealing with an increase in fuel costs, which are about 36 percent higher than last year.

The agency is switching to a system that bases the cost of riding the train on the number of miles traveled instead of an earlier system that relied on zone pricing.

In the old system, people who traveled the same distance could pay differing amounts depending on how many zones they passed through, Tyrrell said. For example, a 70-mile trip from the Antelope Valley would be cheaper than traveling the same distance from Oceanside because the latter trip passes through more travel zones.

"We're trying to have a fair fare," Tyrrell said. "It's still a good bargain, just now it will cost you 5 percent more."

The new system also will make it easier for commuters to compare the cost of driving their vehicles to riding Metrolink, which typically favors the commuter railroad, Tyrrell said. The agency does not expect the price increase to affect ridership.

The toll increase on the 91 Express Lanes boosts the cost of driving eastbound on the 10-mile private lanes from $7.75 to $8.50 for drivers who enter the lanes between 4 and 5 p.m. on Fridays. The cost jumps from $6.50 to $7.25 to enter the lanes starting between 4 and 5 p.m. on Tuesdays.

The increases are in accordance with the lanes' toll policy, which calls for increasing prices when congestion within the paying lanes begins to approach that in the free lanes of Highway 91.

Another increase of 3.64 percent -- a nickel to a quarter, depending on the trip -- is being applied to all time slots to offset inflation. Spared from that inflationary increase will be any toll periods that have been raised in the last year.

Along Highway 241, tolls are expected to increase somewhere between 25 cents and 50 cents, according to the Transportation Corridor Agencies, which operate the lanes through the interior of southern Orange County. The road is a popular route for Inland commuters who are trying to get from Highway 91 to Irvine.

The tolls vary according to where a motorist is traveling, at what time and whether payment is by cash or an automated system. The higher tolls are needed to generate enough money to meet rising debt payments, corridor officials said.

There is even some news of warning on the gasoline front. While prices continued to drop last week, they did so at a lower rate than in recent weeks. They also tend to start rising again at some point in August, because of high summer demand.

"Prices are still going down, but the pace of decreases has slowed a bit," Montgomery said. "It's been such a crazy five years with gas prices. I don't think anyone gets surprised anymore."

Reach Phil Pitchford at 951-368-9475 or ppitchford@PE.com