Newport does toll roads

Paul Clinton

Paying for a quicker trip from point A to point B doesn’t seem to

cause much consternation for residents in Newport Beach, who trail

only Rancho Santa Margarita as top users of Orange County toll roads.

“We’re a wealthy community,” Mayor Tod Ridgeway said about the

news. “We find convenience over cost to be the choice.”

Officials with the toll road operator, the Transportation Corridor

Agencies, discovered the data after analyzing driving habits by

county residents for the month of June.

Newport Beach ranks No. 2 on the lists of cities with residents

who have the highest number of the FasTrak transponders, highest

number of FasTrak accounts and also the percentage of city residents

who use the devices.

The transponders are beige-colored square sensors, about 2 inches

by 2 inches in size, that can be placed in a vehicle’s window. When a

vehicle with one of the devices passes under the antennae of a toll

station, the transponder device register the vehicle as having

traveled on the roadway.

Drivers are given the transponders if they open an account with

the toll road operator, a private company. Tolls on the paid roadways

cost $2.50 per trip with a device, a 50-cent savings from the $3 toll

for those who pay with cash.

Once residents open an account, they can apply for multiple

transponders. Ridgeway said he has “one on every car.”

Newport Beach’s 18,865 FasTrak accounts ranks No. 2 on the county

list.

About 46% of Newport Beach’s residents use a transponder. In

Rancho Santa Margarita, 88% of the residents possess a transponder.

Despite the high number of accounts, Newport Beach ranks much

lower on the list that ranks revenue from each city. It comes in at

seventh on the list. During June, city residents spent $296,500 in

tolls for the paid roadways, which include the San Joaquin Hills toll

road and Foothill toll road.

Toll road operators said the city ranked low on the toll totem

poll because much of the city is at the end of the road. There are

many other freeway options, including the San Diego Freeway, Costa

Mesa Freeway and Santa Ana Freeway.

Further inland, the toll road is the only option.

“Newport Coast is utilizing just a section of the toll road,”

spokeswoman Lisa Telles said. “It’s at the end.”