End the Charade in the Car-Pool Lane

We agree with The Times that opening 20 miles of new Orange Freeway car-pool lanes will help relieve north Orange County’s strangulating traffic congestion (“Car-Pool Construction Picks Up Speed,” editorial, June 7).

Obviously, those 20% to 25% of the commuters now car-pooling will use the new lanes. But, more importantly, will restricting the new lanes to car-pool vehicles motivate any appreciable number of the remaining 75% to 80% to form new car-pools?

Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration say it won’t. They admit in an April, 1992, environmental declaration that car-pool lanes “would not substantially alter the number of vehicles on the freeway” and “the AQMD (Air Quality Management District) does not have specific data documenting the improvements to air quality attributed to the addition of (car-pool) lanes.”

The Times, Caltrans, Federal Highway Administration and AQMD do not stand alone. More than 25 car-pool lane facilities across the country have spawned dozens of studies that generally restate the car-pool lane goals with “eco-politically correct” puffery. The few that approach the problem scientifically find that car-pool lanes have not caused any significant increase in car-pooling.

Isn’t it time to end the charade?

WAYNE KING, Director, Drivers for Highway Safety