A Transportation Diamond

There’s been quite enough shortsighted and contradictory guff about carpool lanes being the dumbest idea since the Edsel. One new bit of ammunition for opponents is that New Jersey is dumping its diamond lanes. But let’s set a few things straight concerning the knee-jerk criticisms:

Gripe One: The lanes are underutilized and wasteful. Wasteful? You could cover Southern California with high-speed carpool lanes for the cost of a couple of miles of subway construction here. Underutilized compared to what? Unrealistic expectations, perhaps, from members of Congress and federal bureaucrats.

The Capitol crowd assumed that all Americans would take to carpooling and diamond lanes with the enthusiasm of motorists in Washington, D.C., and its environs. Metropolitan Washington, the birthplace of so-called “set aside” lanes, may be the only city in America where the suburbs-to-downtown commuting pattern makes perfect sense. That’s because it is the seat of the sprawling federal government, where tens of thousands of employees converge every workday. Counting on one out of four commuters to join car pools was a safe assumption. For California’s doubters, the figures show a steady 14.5% carpool rate, which compares very favorably with the rest of the nation.

Gripe Two: Carpool lanes are unpopular. Well, yes, when they run a few miles and then stop. What help is that? Worse yet, some carpool lanes were formed by simply taking parts of established roadways rather than laying down new lanes.

America has 3.9 million miles of roads and highways and 42,795 interstate highway miles alone. But there are fewer than 2,000 miles of carpool lanes. Only now in Southern California have we begun the stage of continuous carpool lanes that can take you from one destination to another without long gaps.

Gripe Three: Carpool lanes aren’t safe. Again, compared with what? Certainly not other highway lanes. Pool-lane drivers are far less likely to be cut off and thrown into panic braking. Of course the lanes can be improved: Longer exit and entry sections would help.

Gripe Four: Americans in general, and Californians in particular, are too independent for carpooling. Oh, please. Technically, you’re carpooling almost every time you drive. Taking your date to dinner; a family trip to the countryside; driving the soccer team to practice. In that respect, it’s time to stop thinking of carpooling only as a rush-hour and home-to-work thing. Statistically, more people carpool on family and social outings than in commuting to work.

California is right to continue to spend more on carpool lanes. They are a small, cost-efficient and integral part of many sensible transportation plans. They are badly needed here.