Carpool Lanes and Tourism Industry

* Re “When It’s Built, Will Car-Poolers Come?” (Oct. 11):

This article neglected an important part of the subject. I am a professional tour guide. Millions of people come to Los Angeles to visit places like Hollywood, Beverly Hills stars’ homes, amusement parks and many other attractions. Many of these tourists have complained about the horrible traffic here, as they sit on tour buses being taken to the sites.

However, upon being taken onto the carpool lanes, they speak very highly of our system because the high-occupancy-vehicle lanes get them around faster and they get to see more on their tours. Buses using the HOV lanes with 50 happy, impressed tourists really cruise!

I’ve heard that some potential travelers don’t come to L.A. because of the bad traffic. This means less money is being spent, and this translates into fewer jobs.

Our Los Angeles metro economy depends heavily on tourism for literally billions of dollars. The air quality is improving, but let’s continue to work on the traffic problem. Carpool lanes are great, and let’s build more!

FRANK WATERS

Anaheim