ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : All in the Car Pool

At a time when the California Highway Patrol reports that motorists are getting used to car-pool lanes, the Orange County Transportation Commission has commissioned a $10,000 study to determine if the lanes should be opened to all cars during off-peak hours.

What a bad idea. What a waste of money. What a wimpy hedge on an important commitment to alleviate the area’s transportation crunch.

The argument for throwing this money at yet another consultant, according to commission Chairman Dana Reed, is that by studying whether single-occupant vehicles can use highways in off-peak hours, the county can determine whether it can encourage drivers to avoid using the freeway until those times.

But many drivers, who have jobs and classes and personal commitments to meet according to schedule, are not so free to alter their comings and goings. And why would they need a car-pool lane when they can already sail along on an uncongested freeway at off times?

This poor attempt at compromise is really a sop to the small but vocal group that has opposed car-pool lanes from the start. Instead of showing leadership and declaring that the issue is resolved after being studied ad nauseam, the commission is beating a cowardly retreat.

But you can’t please all the people all the time, and you may not even please the malcontents when you try appeasement. Indeed, the co-chairman of Drivers for Highway Safety, a group opposed to car-pool lanes, greeted the news of the study with only slight enthusiasm, saying he still wants the lanes opened all the time.

Car-pooling takes time to catch on, and it’s encouraging that a new report prepared by the California Department of Transportation shows that added patrols and new signs on the San Diego and Costa Mesa freeways have led to a sharp reduction in the number of motorists violating car-pool lane restrictions.

People are starting to get the message. So don’t confuse them now.