Report on Diamond Lanes

* Re “Analyst Urges Overhaul of State’s Carpool Lanes,” Jan. 9:

The logic behind the concept of carpool lanes is to reduce overall congestion on the freeways. Two or more potential drivers in the same car mean only one car instead of several cars on that freeway. To encourage this we grant these car-poolers special lanes, etc. This would seem logical enough.

However, this idea only works if all persons in that car are drivers who otherwise would be in their own individual cars. It defies logic to include individuals with small children or other nondrivers in this privileged group. They are not reducing the number of cars on the road, yet they can use the special lanes. I believe that the actual number of cars removed from the freeways by the diamond lanes is relatively small and not worth the expense. The money could better be spent improving the freeways for all drivers.

FRED REINHART

Granada Hills

* Diamond lanes create congestion, waste time and gas overall, cause accidents and encourage drivers to break the law. How much taxpayer money has gone down the drain perpetuating a concept so flawed that its proponents feared any rational examination of its effectiveness? What is really disturbing is that there are politicians who offer as an alternative something even worse: HOT lanes toll roads. Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer has the good sense to see through these ill-conceived schemes.

DAVE SILVA

Seal Beach

* Environmental Defense supports more flexibility for carpool lanes, including selling available space to solo drivers willing to pay a fee, as the legislative analyst suggests. Such “express lanes” provide benefits all around: A congestion-free trip is available to car pools and others when they really need it; more cars are taken out of the regular lanes; and funds can be raised for transportation alternatives.

The I-15 express lanes in San Diego not only created new express bus service in that corridor, carpooling actually went up when solo drivers were allowed in. Tolls that users pay are far fairer than using sales taxes to build roads.

DAN KIRSHNER

Environmental Defense, Oakland