New Look at Carpool Lanes

A new report by legislative analysts finds that carpool lanes throughout the state are underused and have not persuaded drivers to change their habits. Orange County apparently is doing much better on lane usage than other parts of the state, but some of the analysts’ recommendations are worthy of consideration locally as a way to maximize use.

In general, the carpool lane concept has worked well for Orange County, with steady use during rush hours for the major arteries. A challenge for the county will be whether to consider experimenting, while also ensuring that freeway capacity is not underused at off hours.

The plan to add carpool lanes as part of the widening of the Garden Grove Freeway will provide a new opportunity to tinker. This is the final part of an extensive network of carpool lanes put in place in the county. The trend accelerated in the second half of the 1990s with the arrival of major carpool interchanges at the El Toro Y and the Santa Ana Freeway confluence with the Costa Mesa Freeway. Carpool lanes were added to the Orange Freeway, and their presence was expanded on other major arteries.

The finding that Orange County carpool lanes are not used at capacity even though they have more traffic than those of any other county in the state ought to be an incentive to experiment at off hours. The Legislature has recommended more flexibility. Some lanes in Northern California are open to all cars in off hours, whereas in Southern California the lanes are reserved for car pools all the time. There may be times in Orange County when it would make sense to have the lanes open to more traffic at off times.

Officials with the Orange County Transportation Authority have expressed some interest in instituting a toll payment for single drivers in some carpool lanes, but there are no definite plans to do so. Finally, the analysts’ call for better evaluation of the effectiveness of carpool lanes would give local authorities a better sense of how to make adjustments.