OCTA panel wants carpool rule widened

An experimental program that allows motorists to pull in and out of carpool lanes as they wish has been such a success that the practice should be allowed on all Orange County freeways, a transportation committee recommended Monday.

Motorists carrying at least one passenger have been permitted to enter and exit carpool lanes without restriction since late last year on a renovated stretch of the Garden Grove Freeway in a first-of-its-kind demonstration project in Southern California.

The idea is to expand that program to other freeways, said Carolyn Cavecche, Orange County Transportation Authority chairwoman. She was part of a planning committee that recommended the conversion Monday. OCTA’s full board will consider the recommendation Monday. The California Department of Transportation must also sign off on the idea.

As chairwoman, Cavecche has given a high priority this year to improvements to the 22 Freeway, now in the final stages of a $550-million renovation, and changes governing carpool lanes.

“I want you to know that I’m very, very serious about this,” Cavecche told Caltrans and OCTA officials who appeared before the committee.

In many ways, the action demonstrates the growing strength of local transportation agencies such as OCTA and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to shape decisions to fit transit needs in their jurisdictions.

Initially, Caltrans balked at the plan of adding a lane to the 22 Freeway that carpoolers could enter and exit at will. Typically, drivers can pull into or out of the lanes only at stretches marked by broken lines.

The agency changed its mind after it was criticized by the OCTA board for dragging its feet on innovative ideas. Supporters say drivers should be able to move freely in and out of carpool lanes so they can carefully move over in traffic to make their exits. Critics, however, say that it could cause more accidents when slow drivers move into a fast-moving carpool lane.

The open carpool lanes are already in use in the Bay Area and Sacramento.

At board meetings, Caltrans officials said they would allow the proposed conversion by calling it a demonstration project, and only if OCTA added cameras and paid for monitoring and any increased police enforcement.

In February, OCTA board members were told that the local Caltrans district would be given greater authority by its Sacramento office over the county’s 244-mile carpool system. But the agency was sluggish returning to the board with its recommendations, the board said.

“I share the frustration with Orange County motorists that this was supposed to have a quicker start,” Cavecche said.

The agency has been considering highway safety issues such as carpool lane ramps, approaches and transitions at county borders, James Pinheiro, Caltrans deputy district director, told the committee.

“We want to avoid setting up different options for motorists that might be confusing,” he said. “We don’t want people merging into each other.”

There have not been major problems with the new carpool lane on the 22 Freeway, the California Highway Patrol said. And OCTA officials say traffic has flowed more smoothly.

But carpool lane users don’t have a lot of room to maneuver in case of emergency, said Officer Stacy Willits of the CHP’s Westminster office.

“You have the wall on one side and cars on the other,” she said. “When things go bad in the carpool lane, they go bad fast.”

Under Monday’s recommendation, OCTA and Caltrans would begin implementing the first carpool conversions for the San Diego, Riverside and Orange freeways. More complex conversions for other freeways will come later, Pinheiro said.

Both agencies still need to find funding and schedule the projects. In addition, the proposed conversions must be approved by federal environment and highway agencies and the state air quality district.

david.reyes@latimes.com