A new study suggests HOV (high occupancy vehicle) or car pool lanes don’t help reduce congestion. The research was conducted by the University of California, Berkeley and California State University, East Bay. “HOV actuation imposes a twenty percent capacity penalty,” wrote researchers Jaimyoung Kwon and Pravin Varaiya. “The HOV restriction significantly increases demand on the other lanes causing a net increase in overall congestion delay. HOV actuation does not significantly increase person throughput.” The HOV lanes have a vehicle flow of 1600 per hour, compared with 2000 per hour for a standard lane. This difference offsets the people-moving capacity of these lanes. [source].
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04/03, 10:16 AM
posted by:
teknomusik
I could have told them that!
04/03, 12:28 PM
posted by:
Chris G
That’s because people still don’t carpool!
04/03, 2:03 PM
posted by:
gsh
hahah you would only need to commute on the 405 to know the carpool doesnt do jack ****….when all other lanes are clogged and people want to get out of the carpool, how can they get out? plus with everyone and their mom getting a prius with the access sticker, the carpool lane is used by cars with only one person inside!
04/03, 4:12 PM
posted by:
Jason
The carpool lane is jammed by one person deciding to drive slow in it.
The non-carpool lanes get shafted by having one less lane.
Absolutely no advantage, just a social-political promotion for the idea of “carpooling”. Carpooling is a difficult idea to sell because everyone needs to go to different places to work, and coworkers do not live next door to each other. Carpooling does not work in America unless have some kind of socio-city-planning-localization revolution.
04/04, 2:12 AM
posted by:
vp
Carpool lane was the most proven stupid idea that the goverment is still holding on. Maybe the state revenue, generating from ticketing, depends on it so much that they can’t afford to abolish it. I don’t like the argument like #2, non-sense! You don’t create laws to clog up the road then hope that someone will carpool. Don’t you stupid beaucrats know how much time and gas being wasted by the working people while sitting in traffic? There are incentives offered by the private companies and, I believe, tax exemption for carpool already but most people just can’t take it because carpooling is not realistic solution in our daily lives.
04/04, 7:11 AM
posted by:
Barry
With a vehicle flow rate of 1600 per hour instead of 2000 per hour, that means you would have to carry 1.25 people in your car to be the equivalent of all those solo-driving jerks in the right-hand lanes. Fortunately, you’re required to carry at least 2 people in your car to use the HOV lanes, so the problem is solved.