Double line - So. Cal Carpool Lanes

[myosh_tino]

Since I live on the southern coast of Oregon, a decidedly rural area, I wonder how well the HOV lanes work as according to folks who live in the metro areas that have them.  This seems like the place to ask!

Rick

Up here in northern California (S.F. Bay Area to be exact), our HOV lanes are striped a little different from down south.  Up here, we have "open access" HOV lanes which means cars are free to enter and exit the HOV lane at any point.  The HOV lane is striped like a normal lane with a broken white line and during non-commute hours, the HOV lane functions as a general purpose lane.  While it does make things more convenient for motorists to leave the HOV lane to make exits, it's potentially more dangerous because you never know when someone is going to dive into the HOV lane or slam on their brakes to exit the lane.  Despite this, I do like the open-access HOV lane because of its ability to become a general purpose lane during non-commute hours.

Whenever I'm in an HOV lane during commute hours, I try to keep my speed between 55 and 65 MPH depending on the flow of traffic in the general purpose lanes and whether there are cars behind me.