L.A. County Metro Freeway Service Patrol Celebrates 25th Anniversary

LOS ANGELES, CA -- The Metro Freeway Service Patrol on Wednesday celebrated its 25th anniversary of helping stranded Los Angeles County motorists and easing traffic congestion in the process.

The service patrol -- which began as a test program in 1991 and has since helped more than seven million motorists -- remains a free service provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Caltrans with oversight by the California Highway Patrol.

"The Metro Freeway Service Patrol is the largest free service of its kind in the nation with FSP drivers assisting about 300,000 motorists annually -- and every one of those vehicle breakdowns has the potential for causing traffic jams lasting long periods of time," said Metro Chair John Fasana.

Service patrol drivers change flat tires, jump start dead batteries, refill radiators, repair leaking hoses, provide up to one gallon of fuel and can tow a disabled vehicle out of freeway lanes.

"FSP is essential to keeping traffic flowing smoothly on L.A. County freeways," said CHP Assistant Chief Greg Peck. "We estimate that because of FSP, motorists have saved nearly 9.5 million hours sitting in traffic."

The patrol covers 475 freeway miles of Los Angeles County during commute hours all seven days of the week, with 149 tow trucks in operation during weekday peak periods.

The average wait time for service is seven minutes. A service driver can be dispatched by a CHP officer or a motorist in need can call 511 on their mobile phone.

Metro provides 66 percent of the funding for the service from local sales taxes and Caltrans provides the rest from state highway funds.

-- City News Service, photo courtesy of Metro