Solo Drivers In Carpool Lanes? Lawmaker Wants Freeway Reform

[cpzilliacus]

KNX 1070: Solo Drivers In Carpool Lanes? Lawmaker Wants Freeway Reform

Commuters who have long suffered from carpool lane envy could soon find some relief if one San Fernando Valley lawmaker has his way.

Assemblyman Mike Gatto (D-Burbank) has introduced Assembly Bill 405, a measure that will create a pilot program of sorts to ease such traffic congestion by permitting single-occupancy vehicles to access the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes — also known as carpool lanes — on the 134 Freeway during non-peak hours.

[agentsteel53]

time-selective carpool lanes are common in other areas than SoCal.  NorCal, for example, has occupancy-based restrictions only during weekday rush hours.

[cpzilliacus]

time-selective carpool lanes are common in other areas than SoCal.  NorCal, for example, has occupancy-based restrictions only during weekday rush hours.

Nearly all of the HOV lanes in Metropolitan Washington, D.C. are part-time.

Only  exception is U.S. 50 (John Hanson Highway) in Prince  George's County, Maryland.  The HOV lanes there are Southern California-style, HOV-2 24/7.

And the HOV/Toll lanes on I-495 in Fairfax County, Virginia accept HOV-3 vehicles for free at all times (with an E-ZPass Flex transponder).

[hm insulators]

Same with HOV lanes in Phoenix.

[kphoger]

What advantage is there to full-time?

[SignBridge]

Our infamous Long Island Expwy. also restricts the HOV lane only during rush hours, Mon. thru Fri.

[deathtopumpkins]

What advantage is there to full-time?

Probably more useful on roads with significant congestion outside of rush hour. Though I can't think of any freeway that has bad enough traffic at 3am to warrant an HOV lane.

[agentsteel53]

What advantage is there to full-time?

Probably more useful on roads with significant congestion outside of rush hour. Though I can't think of any freeway that has bad enough traffic at 3am to warrant an HOV lane.

3am is an extreme example.  I remember I-95 around Fort Lauderdale being wedged by about 4pm, while the carpool lane became carpool-only around 5.

I think somewhere between "full-time" and "about 3 hours a day" is the correct choice.  I wonder what causes transportation departments to gravitate solely towards those extremes.

[kkt]

What advantage is there to full-time?

Many highways have lots of congestion at unpredictable other times.  If the road is empty enough for the HOV lane to be unrestricted, it's empty enough that the traffic will fit into the general purpose lanes.

[deathtopumpkins]

What advantage is there to full-time?

Probably more useful on roads with significant congestion outside of rush hour. Though I can't think of any freeway that has bad enough traffic at 3am to warrant an HOV lane.

3am is an extreme example.  I remember I-95 around Fort Lauderdale being wedged by about 4pm, while the carpool lane became carpool-only around 5.

I think somewhere between "full-time" and "about 3 hours a day" is the correct choice.  I wonder what causes transportation departments to gravitate solely towards those extremes.

I think rather than go to the effort of doing a study to determine at what hours the road is backed up they just figured it'd be easier to go all the way with a 24/7 lane or just do it during rush hours.
There are plenty of roads around here that are backed up long outside the HOV hours.

[agentsteel53]

there are times that are not quite rush hour where opening the carpool lane to general use would increase traffic flow quality. 

[roadfro]

I think rather than go to the effort of doing a study to determine at what hours the road is backed up they just figured it'd be easier to go all the way with a 24/7 lane or just do it during rush hours.

This might have been NDOT's approach on the US 95 HOV lanes in Las Vegas. They originally opened as 24/7, but have since been scaled back to about 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon on weekdays.

[myosh_tino]

I think rather than go to the effort of doing a study to determine at what hours the road is backed up they just figured it'd be easier to go all the way with a 24/7 lane or just do it during rush hours.

This might have been NDOT's approach on the US 95 HOV lanes in Las Vegas. They originally opened as 24/7, but have since been scaled back to about 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon on weekdays.

Are the HOV lanes on US 95 "continuous access" like in Northern California or are they "limited access" like in most of Southern California?  I seem to recall the US 95 HOV lane was separated from the general purpose lanes by a single solid white line but it's been a while since I drove that portion of US 95.

[KEK Inc.]

What advantage is there to full-time?

Tax collectors...

[swbrotha100]

I think rather than go to the effort of doing a study to determine at what hours the road is backed up they just figured it'd be easier to go all the way with a 24/7 lane or just do it during rush hours.

This might have been NDOT's approach on the US 95 HOV lanes in Las Vegas. They originally opened as 24/7, but have since been scaled back to about 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon on weekdays.

Are the HOV lanes on US 95 "continuous access" like in Northern California or are they "limited access" like in most of Southern California?  I seem to recall the US 95 HOV lane was separated from the general purpose lanes by a single solid white line but it's been a while since I drove that portion of US 95.

I think those HOV lanes are similar to the ones on the freeways in the Phoenix area.

[Road Hog]

I hate HOV lanes. They are terribly inefficient. I understand the sentiment behind them – to encourage carpooling – but in terms of people count per hour (not to mention vehicle count, of course), they carry way less than any one of the main lanes. I think a lot of states have recognized this problem belatedly and are going to a managed-toll-lane design.

If fuel savings is the end goal, then more fuel can be saved by opening up that extra mostly-empty lane, relieving congestion, and avoiding cars wastefully idling in a traffic stack-up.

[kkt]

I hate HOV lanes. They are terribly inefficient. I understand the sentiment behind them – to encourage carpooling – but in terms of people count per hour (not to mention vehicle count, of course), they carry way less than any one of the main lanes.wastefully idling in a traffic stack-up.

Encouraging carpooling is not the only purpose.  Here, express busses use the HOV lanes so they can keep their schedule pretty well during traffic jams.  It works pretty well, the busses run full during rush hour and here the passenger count is higher in the HOV lane than the general purpose lanes.

[roadfro]

This might have been NDOT's approach on the US 95 HOV lanes in Las Vegas. They originally opened as 24/7, but have since been scaled back to about 3 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the afternoon on weekdays.

Are the HOV lanes on US 95 "continuous access" like in Northern California or are they "limited access" like in most of Southern California?  I seem to recall the US 95 HOV lane was separated from the general purpose lanes by a single solid white line but it's been a while since I drove that portion of US 95.

US 95's HOV lanes are separated by a single solid stripe and are continuous access. They say it's to discourage darting in and out of the lanes.

[kphoger]

I hate HOV lanes. They are terribly inefficient. I understand the sentiment behind them – to encourage carpooling – but in terms of people count per hour (not to mention vehicle count, of course), they carry way less than any one of the main lanes. I think a lot of states have recognized this problem belatedly and are going to a managed-toll-lane design.

If fuel savings is the end goal, then more fuel can be saved by opening up that extra mostly-empty lane, relieving congestion, and avoiding cars wastefully idling in a traffic stack-up.

As I've mentioned before, the mainline lanes carrying more cars does not necessarily equate to less throughput for the highway as a whole.  Fewer lanes means less lane changing, which keeps the flow steadier, which helps maintain throughput.

[vdeane]

It also means that a single slow poke can ruin the driving experience for everyone else.  I'm not normally a left lane blocker, but I WILL exhibit that behavior on I-490 between NY 31F and NY 96 at Bushnell's Basin, simply because if I don't, I'll get trapped by someone going 10 mph under the limit in the right lane with no opportunity to pass because of traffic.  Traffic moves slower than it otherwise would because NYSDOT never built the extra lanes that have been planned for 20 years now.