Las Vegas HOV rules to change

[jakeroot]

If for some reason you have to get rid of the HOV restrictions (I don't really use the freeways often enough to say whether they help or not) why not just leave the lanes the way they are and do an express/local type setup? It would be really stupid to have to demolish a bunch of brand new on/off ramps just because the Lt. Governor wants to make a point.

That's the way I feel.

I really enjoyed the old express lane setup they had on I-15 for several years before the current configuration came into play: Two buffer-separated (by candlestick bollards) express lanes open to any vehicles, running from just north of I-215 and just south of Sahara. Only downside was the mad rush of vehicles cutting over out of the express lanes at the ends (I-15 north around Sahara just past the end of the express lanes was the most accident prone location in the state for years). Reverting to something like that using the HOV infrastructure might be kinda neat.

I would think they have no choice but to do something like this. The only other option is a bunch of redundant ramps, which would be fine but awkward. And unusual, too; not sure I've heard of another example of a state/city building a ton of HOV-specific infrastructure to then throw in the towel on HOV lanes.

[roadfro]

If for some reason you have to get rid of the HOV restrictions (I don't really use the freeways often enough to say whether they help or not) why not just leave the lanes the way they are and do an express/local type setup? It would be really stupid to have to demolish a bunch of brand new on/off ramps just because the Lt. Governor wants to make a point.

That's the way I feel.

I really enjoyed the old express lane setup they had on I-15 for several years before the current configuration came into play: Two buffer-separated (by candlestick bollards) express lanes open to any vehicles, running from just north of I-215 and just south of Sahara. Only downside was the mad rush of vehicles cutting over out of the express lanes at the ends (I-15 north around Sahara just past the end of the express lanes was the most accident prone location in the state for years). Reverting to something like that using the HOV infrastructure might be kinda neat.

I would think they have no choice but to do something like this. The only other option is a bunch of redundant ramps, which would be fine but awkward. And unusual, too; not sure I've heard of another example of a state/city building a ton of HOV-specific infrastructure to then throw in the towel on HOV lanes.

In the case of Las Vegas, only one of four HOV-specific ramps facilitates a redundant movement—Summerlin Pkwy & US 95 towards downtown. The others go to completely different streets than the mainline exits: US 95 at Elkhorn (built in part to facilitate easier access to an existing Park & Ride/bus transfer center near the US 95 & Durango interchange), I-15 at "Neon Gateway" (alternate access to downtown, and possible easier bus access to the main bus transportation center downtown), and the I-15 at Harmon currently under construction between the Flamingo & Tropicana interchanges.

But yes, this would be an unusual "throw in the towel" situation if it does come to pass. HOV lanes in Las Vegas are less than 20 years old—I believe the first HOV lanes appeared on US 95 in the mid/late 2000s.

[mrsman]

This does seem like a shame if they have to go through the effort of closing down all of the new ramps and other infrastructure.  I guess there may be a bit of a safety factor in having both left side and right side entrances and exits randomly.  At least, when the lanes were restricted, people driving in those lanes would know to expect entrances and exits at the left.

[Scott5114]

I mean, it's not like left exits don't exist, of course. But the problems with them have been known for long enough that it would be a case of left exits being installed unusually recently.

In the case of Las Vegas, only one of four HOV-specific ramps facilitates a redundant movement—Summerlin Pkwy & US 95 towards downtown.

The reverse movement (northbound US 95 from downtown to westbound NV 613) also has a redundant HOV ramp.

[roadfro]

Stavros Anthony is still on his crusade to eliminate Vegas' HOV lanes...

Push to remove HOV lanes from Las Vegas Valley drives forward - Mick Acker, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 7/14/2025

The push to eradicate high occupancy vehicle lanes in the Las Vegas Valley continues, led by one of the state's top transportation figures.

Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, who sits as vice chairman of the Nevada Transportation Board of Directors, has been on a yearslong effort to get rid of HOV lanes in Southern Nevada.

Last year, at the urge of Anthony, the state initiated an environmental study on whether converting HOV lanes to general purposes lanes would create any impacts.

"We are continuing to do the study through the federal government to really tell the federal government that we do not need HOV lanes in Southern Nevada," Anthony said this month.

'HOV lanes are useless'

The study began last year and is expected to take two years to complete, Anthony said.

"My hope is a year from now we'll have this study done and we can go to the federal government and basically tell them HOV lanes are useless," he said.

From the feedback he's heard, Anthony said he's under the assumption that the majority of Southern Nevada residents don't support the carpool lanes in the valley.

"They're causing congestion," Anthony said. "Nobody is calling their neighbor to drive in the HOV lane."

Anthony also hopes that the change in presidential administration from Joe Biden to Donald Trump could also help his cause with the federal government for removing the HOV lanes.

"I'm hoping with a Trump administration that they'll see the fallacy of these HOV lanes and they'll allow us to open them up," Anthony said.

HOV lanes brief history

Carpool lanes were added to Interstate 15 in 2019 as part of Project Neon — adding to the existing HOV lanes on U.S. Highway 95 at the time.

At that time carpool regulations in effect limited the use of the HOV lanes to vehicles with two or more people and were in place for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A pilot program was launched in fall 2022 with HOV regulation hours being reduced from 24/7 to being open to all motorists between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. seven days a week.

Anthony was already successful in leading the charge to reduce the hours that HOV lanes are in effect in Southern Nevada. Last year, the carpool lane regulation hours were further reduced to the current hours with the lanes now being dedicated to carpooling only between 6 and 8 a.m. and between 4 and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and open to all on weekends.

Anthony did that early on into his position of lieutenant governor, continuing a crusade he began while sitting as a member of the Las Vegas City Council.

"Once I became lieutenant governor I think it took me five months to get them down to two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, because I had more control," Anthony said. "I appreciate the (transportation) board voting for my motion and doing that. NDOT went along with it too. They didn't fight me at all."

Do HOV lanes encourage carpooling?

Regional Transportation Commission spokeswoman Sue Christiansen made the case that the carpool lanes are picking up steam. Christiansen noted that the RTC has seen a steady increase in participants in its carpooling program, RTC Club Ride, outside of 2024, when the program was restructured.

Members of RTC's Club Ride program voluntarily record their commute modes, which include carpooling as an option, Christiansen said.

"While not all carpool trips are HOV system trips, carpool trip reporting consistently rose year-over-year," Christiansen said. "At the mid-mark of 2025, we are already at nearly 120,000 carpool trips recorded."

Between July 3, 2024, and Thursday, 156 HOV lane violation citations were submitted by law enforcement officials to Las Vegas Municipal Court. Of those, 119 were found liable for their violations, 19 are pending judgment, 16 were dismissed and two were found not liable.

With the push to remove the lanes moving forward, Anthony said he's not sure how the potential removal of HOV lanes would affect on- and -off ramps located on the left side of I-15. Some are at the Neon Gateway downtown and at Harmon Avenue, where an HOV half interchange was built as part of the I-15/Tropicana Avenue interchange project.

"I mean, as far as I'm concerned, we could just turn them all into general purpose lanes and it's not going to impact anybody," Anthony said. "It's not going to increase the usage of the HOV lanes philosophy."

I'd would much rather have seen study of the more typical HOV hours (before they were lowered to the current status) along with some better enforcement before they decide what to do. The current 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon on weekdays seems pretty pointless and unlikely to generate much usable data to aid in making a determination on nixing HOV lanes or not.

I'm still hopeful that if they get rid of HOV, they go back to some kind of express setup...again, along with better enforcement—crossing the double white line is way more common than it should be.

[Scott5114]

I would not like to visit the version of Las Vegas that lives in Stavros Anthony's brain because it sounds like a kind of crappy knock-off of the one I live in.

If I understand the article right, all of these machinations he has going on will be wrapping up just about the time he's up for re-election. I follow Nevada politics fairly regularly and the only time I ever hear out of this guy is when he's bitching about the HOV lanes. I am not sure that I would want to go into a re-election bid with nothing to show for it but an attempt to get rid of HOV lanes, no matter whether he's successful in that or not.

[SeriesE]

I feel like it's shortsighted to kill HOV lanes without letting them prove themselves their worthiness with all these new HOV interchanges going online.