LA wants to pay you up to $600 to give your car a rest

Los Angeles drivers are being offered cold, hard cash to leave at least one of their cars parked at home.

LA Metro has launched the second phase of its One Car Challenge, a pilot program that will pay eligible Los Angeles County households up to $600 if they agree not to use one of their vehicles for five weeks and instead rely on public transit, biking, walking, carpooling or other transportation options.

The agency is expanding the initiative after testing it in Santa Monica in 2023, where roughly 300 multi-car households participated.

This year’s program is much bigger, targeting about 2,000 households across Los Angeles County. For the first time, even single-car households are eligible.

Metro hopes the financial incentive will persuade residents to cut back on driving and help determine whether similar programs could reduce congestion, lower emissions and improve traffic throughout the region.

Participants must be at least 21 years old and agree to keep one household vehicle parked at home for five weeks. Their travel habits will be monitored through the GoCarma smartphone app, which automatically tracks trips and vehicle mileage. Households that complete the challenge can earn as much as $600.

The expanded effort is backed by a $2 million Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) grant from the Southern California Association of Governments.

Metro says the first round produced promising results.

“The pilot showed a significant behavioral shift away from solo car trips, with the most notable increases seen in walking and micromobility,” Metro said in a statement to Spectrum News 1. “Data tracked during the initial phase revealed that participants were 2.6 times more likely to avoid driving an extra vehicle, resulting in a documented 16.16% increase in walking, biking, and public transit utilization.”

Officials say the new, larger study will help determine whether incentive-based programs could become a long-term strategy for reducing vehicle miles traveled while shaping future transportation policies ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, when officials expect major traffic challenges.

However, not everyone is convinced.

Reaction online was sharply divided, with some eager to pocket the extra cash and others arguing that Los Angeles’ public transportation system simply isn’t practical for many commuters.

“5 minute walk to work for me anyway, sign me up,” one user wrote.

Others weren’t buying it.

“45 minute trip on a bus is 15 minutes by car — no amount of money would make me give that up,” another commenter said.

A third user echoed the frustration, writing, “If it didn’t take 2 hours to go 10 miles.”

Still, some riders defended Metro against the criticism.

“I can see people in the comments never take the metro,” another user posted.

Residents interested in participating can register through Metro’s website. The agency says the data collected during the challenge will be used to evaluate whether paying people to drive less could become part of California’s long-term strategy for easing congestion and cutting pollution.

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