Suffering From Congestion? Kick the Habit for a Day

W hat are you doing next Thursday?

Can you live for a day without your car?

Taking a chapter from the Great American Smoke Out, transportation officials are asking commuters in Orange County and throughout California to help cut congestion Thursday by sharing rides, telecommuting, using public transit, walking or bicycling to work.

Dubbed Pool Party Day, the mass-participation event is being chaired statewide by Gary Edson, the Orange County Transit District’s manager of Commuter Network, a division of the bus agency devoted to matching would-be car-poolers and van-poolers.

If enough people participate, Edson says, thousands of commuters will find a less stressful way of getting to work and traffic will flow smoothly throughout the state.

While many people believe commuting alone enhances their personal freedom, “nothing could be further from the truth,” Edson said. “. . . The solo commute has become a punishing, expensive, nerve-racking form of solitary confinement for thousands. . . .”

Ride-sharing is necessary, he said, because “traffic in this region will probably get worse before it gets better.”

Caltrans had hoped to open a 5-mile segment of the new car-pool lane on the northbound San Diego Freeway from Golden West Street to the San Gabriel River Freeway in time for Pool Party Day, but prospects were doubtful as of Friday because of work remaining on the project.

The car-pool lane on the Costa Mesa Freeway has been open since November, 1985.

Transportation officials said they hope commuters throughout the county will give up driving alone for a day even if they do not use the car-pool lane on the Costa Mesa Freeway.

Ride-sharing increased dramatically during the Arab oil embargo of 1973, but has leveled off since then. Some gains have been made in Orange County among employees at major companies, but surveys continue to show that, countywide, few people car-pool or van-pool, according to transportation officials. Still, ride-sharing is a major element in the county’s planned efforts to reduce both congestion and air pollution.

Recently, the South Coast Air Quality Management District adopted mandatory ride-sharing regulations. The new rules require companies that employ 100 people or more to develop plans that will meet specific ride-sharing goals set by the district. Beginning this month, companies that employ 500 or more will be notified and asked to submit their plans for review.