No phone app works as a transponder in Southern California — yet
Q. Hi Honk: I saw your article in the Daily Breeze about transponders and I’m wondering if you have any info about a phone app that I can use. I saw an article about them some time ago and you only get charged when you drive in an area that charges. I’m retired and don’t do much driving to need a transponder.
– Richard Graling, Redondo Beach
A. Odds are high you will get your wish, Richard, but there is no such app in place now.
In California, the Legislature has established two main transponders – the sticker version and the switchable one used for telling a tollway that more than one is aboard to get discounts or a free ride.
There are phone apps that allow users to scan to get onto some bus systems. But no app here that works as a transponder.
“We continue to follow technology to see if we can adjust and change in the future,” said Joel Zlotnik, a spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which oversees the 91 Express Lanes and will do the same for the 405 Express Lanes when they open up on Dec. 1.
Some tollways do allow you to pay via an app within five days after taking the route, such as on the 241 and the 73 toll roads in Orange County. But the cost is higher, and Honk suspects that most tollways don’t offer this option.
Q. Dear Honk: I’m seeing a lot of semis in lanes other than the right two, including even in the fast lane, impeding traffic and making it difficult to change lanes. It’s as if there are no more laws regulating which lanes they can use. Have the laws regarding lane control for big rigs changed?
– Paul Purkhiser, Covina
A. No, sir.
Over the years, this is among the most-asked questions Honk has received. To ensure he had it right, he went over the laws with Mitch Smith, a California Highway Patrol officer and spokesman out of the Westminster station house, who gave Honk’s understanding of his section of the Vehicle Code a thumbs-up.
Any vehicle with three or more axles has to trundle in the right lane on a freeway with three lanes going in that direction. An exception is when passing, then a semi with a trailer, or other three-axle setup, can slide into the middle lane.
On freeways with four or more lanes headed the same way, three-axle affairs must stay in the two far-right lanes.
Now, the real interesting stuff:
When counting the lanes in this scenario, the carpool lane does not count.
Any vehicle towing anything has three axles — including even motorcycles.
Those with three axles are cut slack when heading toward an interchange they will take, to allow for a safe maneuver. Honk has heard a good rule of thumb is the driver — or motorcycle rider — can slide over a mile out.
HONKIN’ FACT: A horse on a 747 flight from New York JFK to Belgium on Nov. 9 partially got out of his enclosure, prompting the Air Atlanta Icelandic pilots to dump 20 tons of fuel over the ocean so the jet could safely return and land to get the injured steed a vet. Sadly, the horse was hurt too badly and euthanized. (Source: CNN.)
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk