Express Lanes
A system of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes has been an integral part of the California freeway system for the past 30 years and express lanes have been an innovation that have been implemented in the past 15 years. Currently, neither the Regional ITS Architecture nor most of the county architectures address HOV lane management and/or electronic toll collection – the foundation of express lane operations.
Express lanes have been regarded as a localized service with projects deployed within individual counties in Orange and upcoming in Los Angeles and Riverside. The success of the 91 Express Lanes is paving the way for more projects throughout the state and across the country. The movement toward more express lanes – both from the perspective of being interconnected and crossing county boundaries in the near future makes this a critical, multi-county issue
To learn more about express lane services in the region, view the information in the Express Lane Regional ITS Elements and Recommended Express Lane Subregional ITS Architecture Elements documents.
California State Budget Reduces Barriers to Housing Production and Extends Deadline for Regional Early Action Planning (REAP 2.0) Program
Earlier this week, the governor signed the 2025-2026 state budget, which includes a suite of reforms to reduce barriers to housing production.
Connect SoCal 2024 Implementation Update: Sustainable Communities Strategy Accepted
On May 7, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) informed SCAG that it had accepted SCAG’s determination that the Connect SoCal 2024 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS) meets CARB’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets.
General Assembly Elects 2025-26 Board Officers
The General Assembly voted to approve the nominations for the SCAG 2025-26 Regional Council officers as recommended by the Regional Council: Hon. Cindy Allen (City of Long Beach) will serve as 2025-26 Regional Council president; Hon. Ray Marquez (City of Chino Hills) will serve as Regional Council first vice president; and Hon. Jenny Crosswhite (City of Santa Paula) will serve as Regional Council second vice president. Leadership also recognized Hon.
Surface Transportation Block Grant and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program Call for Project Nominations Now Open
The federal fiscal year 2026-27 and federal fiscal year 2027-28 Surface Transportation Block Grant program (STBG) and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program (CMAQ) SCAG online application opened for all eligible applicants on March 31. This application will be available through May 16 at 5 p.m.
Surface Transportation Block Grant and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program Guidelines Now Available
On March 6, the SCAG Regional Council approved the federal fiscal year 2026-27 and federal fiscal year 2027-28 Surface Transportation Block Grant program (STBG) and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program (CMAQ) Program Guidelines.