![]() Better HOV enforcement can help speed up the HOV lanes, offering better reliability for vehicles using those lanes.īut even if there were no cheating, the carpool lanes are not designed to move traffic efficiently. SPUR cites data from the area’s Metropolitan Transportation Committee (MTC) showing that there are many HOV lane violators, an average of 19% of HOV traffic in the morning peak and 25% in the afternoon peak, and up to 39% on some segments. ![]() Why is this? Part of the problem is that we have more EVs now, which are allowed in the HOV lanes. HOV lanes (in blue) throughout the Bay Area, plus a few (tolled) express lanes (in green), as of 2017. In many cases, HOV lanes routinely slow to a near standstill during peak hours.” According to the new SPUR report Freeways of the Future, based on pre-pandemic data, “Of the region’s roughly 450 miles of HOV lanes, more than 50% are ‘very degraded,’ meaning that the average speed is below 45 mph for more than half of the operating hours. Unfortunately, HOV lanes have been slowing down. When they move faster than other lanes they reward people in buses and carpools. (1) So we rolled out HOV lanes (“High Occupancy Vehicle” lanes) to encourage carpooling and transit. We know that adding lanes leads to more people driving, an effect called “induced demand”. So it’s time to think again about how to reduce the number of vehicles we have on our roads. I would guess most will be at pre-pandemic levels by fall. With the pandemic beginning to fade and businesses opening up, our highways are getting busy once again. SamTrans ridership has been decreasing for years. The pandemic has kept us off of the roads - a plus! - but also off of transit - a minus! Telecommuting will stick around to some degree, but transit was on a downward trend even before the pandemic. Source: Metropolitan Transportation Commission San Mateo County looks similar, but with slightly more transit. The percentage of people in Santa Clara County that commute to work in a single-occupancy vehicle (light orange) hasn’t changed much since 1980 (pre-pandemic). Both San Mateo and Santa Clara counties have had 65%–75% single-occupancy commuters over the last forty years, with little change. We have not been very successful at reducing the number of single-occupancy vehicles. That raises the question: Should it cost more to drive? Transportation is the largest source of emissions in our area and in the state overall, so our pricing should encourage emissions-reducing behavior. In that same vein, transportation rates are also climate policy. We need to design our rates to encourage behavior that will reduce emissions (i.e., electrification). The Chair of the California Energy Commission, David Hochschild, recently observed that “electricity rates are climate policy”. I love spending time outdoors, and feel deeply our responsibility to this incredible planet that we call home. After working in the tech industry for about 25 years, I retired a few years ago to better align my time with my priorities. I studied math and neurobiology on the east coast before moving out here in 1987 for grad school in computer science. My background is not in climate science, and I'm not even particularly green my hope is that helps to make this blog more relatable. It is important that we develop a shared understanding of the basic science and impacts of climate change, to make sense of our actions and policy options going forward. My hope is that readers of this blog will develop a better understanding of how our climate is evolving and how they want to respond, and will feel comfortable asking questions and exchanging comments on the topic. Because I was using the HOV lanes during the times in which it was free," she said.About this blog: Climate change, despite its outsized impact on the planet, is still an abstract concept to many of us. Initially, I thought it just had to be a mistake. So we would get into the HOV lane around 6:45, and I would take her to school," she said.īut soon after, Davidson says she started receiving violations in the mail. "Started using the HOV lane during the hours in which it's free. When Juilet Davidson moved her family to Katy last year, she allowed her daughter to finish out the school year in Houston. So why is one Houston mom being slapped with fines, even though she says her daughter was in the car? But HOV drivers, or those with more than one person in the car, can ride for free during peak times. ![]() It works like this: If single riders wants to use the lanes, they have to pay a toll. HOUSTON (KTRK) - Commuters got a big break in congestion when the Harris County Toll Road Authority opened the Katy Managed Lanes a few years back. But it was her next mistake that ultimately made her pay the price A driver who thought she was following all the HOV rules learned a simple mix-up could cost her big.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |