Those ridiculous HOV lanes

Here you go, Scott. The floor's all yours... <img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/happy.gif"><br>

<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/laugh.gif"><br>Don't tempt me to expose my plan prematurely.<br>First I must be elected King of America...<br><br>I've got a computer virus and my main computer is in the shop, won't get it until Monday. On a small keypad notebook thing as a substitute and don't like typing on it.<br>Others can chime in and I'll go for it next week and correct the wrongs added to this thread, and consider the people who get it right to serve a spot in my newly formed Parliament...<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif"><br>

<font color="#cc0066">I wasn't crazy about them either until we got the Civic Hybrid. But the bottom line, they are good for the environment but unfortunately it's not possible for everyone to carpool. My husband can sometimes have 5 different job locations in a week. Different times too. No train schedule can accomodate him and his tools. (He's a construction worker and his company has jobs all over NY and NJ.)<br><br><br>maribell</font>

They seem to work pretty well in Seattle.

How about instead of a HOV lane they make one for trucks and such, get those off the main road and you get free flowing traffic, and less road construction on the civilian lane. With the modern work schedule carpooling is nearly impossible and having a lane dedicated to ikt kis dumb, especially if you open it up to cars like hybrids....that makes no sense.

After 7 years of construction to expand the NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway ( both Toll Roads in NJ) back in the late 80's and early 90's and all the years of traffic that went with the construction, at the very end of the project, they decided why not make the extra lane a car pool or HOV lane. For the first 6 to 8 months, there was limited use of the lanes because most commuters in our area are single drivers. The situation worsened as everyone sat in traffic while watching the unused HOV lane being wasted. Finally there was just a massive uproar from the residents of the State of NJ to do away with the HOV lanes and open up the extra lane to all traffic. The politicians fearing for their next paycheck and ability to continue to receive graft and illegal kickbacks ( a little NJ political humor there) acquiesced and did away with the HOV lanes on the two roads. <br><br>Surprisingly, traffic has really flowed a lot better every since they did away with the HOV lane and opened it up to all traffic. HOV lanes only work for as well as they are enforced. I am aware of the HOV lanes on Long Island that Maribel talks about in another thread. The only reason they work is because of a heavy police presence monitoring the lanes. Long Island NY should just open up the HOV lane to all traffic and they would see a reduction in overall traffic just like NJ did.<br><br>Bob Jordan

Scott, good luck with your Parliament. Call me when you form a new Funkadelic.<br>

With all due respect, my cycling brother, but why'd you have to go an' start that?? The discussion is obviously going to lead to nothing productive...

<blockquote><strong class="quote-title">groggerbug wrote:</strong>
<hr>
With all due respect, my cycling brother, but why'd you have to go an' start that?? The discussion is obviously going to lead to nothing productive...</blockquote> Why should this forum change now Gregger..lol.<img src="http://www.ezboard.com/image/posticons/pi_wink1.gif" width="20" height="20"><br><br>This fall as we were heading from Fla on I-75 north,I had the idea that we'd take the HOV lane through Atlanta,as I thought it would surely guide me through the city keeping me on 75 N. Well that was all fine and dandy,until ended up on I-85 North!..lol. That sucked.. <img src="http://www.ezboard.com/image/posticons/pi_nervous.gif" width="20" height="20"><p> <br>Scotto..</p><br>With this Hot wheel track,In the name of King Crimson,In this the Kingdom of Redlinedom,I Crown Thee. <br> Rise,The Duke of Hazzard,The Red Baron..King Peepsalot..<br><br> Hmm..Lancelot/Peepsalot..that didn't come out right..<img src="http://mmb.maverick.to/images/smilies/hmmm.gif" width="20" height="20"><br><br>F.<br><br><br><br><br>

Greg.........I don't really know. I've been feeling out of sorts and agitated all week for various reasons and it's showing up in unusual, mostly harmless behavior. Other than figuring Scott'd get an initial kick out of seeing the thread, I really don't have a vested interest in the outcome--because yeah, I know where it'll go. But I'm having an extremely hard time caring right now, and hopefully just this once. :-)<br><br>
So can you start a decent cycling thread? We had an ice storm around Christmas that's kept me off the streets since then. They're finally starting to shape up, except today's high is about 49 below zero (well, actually, about 8F). That's within my cycling range--when I have a positive attitude. But it ain't so positive right now!<br><br>
Theme song of the week is Queen's "I'm going slightly mad." (starts to hum a few bars....)

people dont wanna car pool including me. who wants to drive to work with 2 or 3 schmucks you dont even know??? suppose your nads itch or something boy wouldn't you feel stupid trying to be incognito by saying your looking for change in your pocket. i like to drive with pantera or mudvayne at earsplitting levels, cant do that in a car pool. maybe i wanna think outloud, pick my nose, scratch my butt, or i'm stuck in traffic and i gotta pee in my coffee cup, or i wanna check out the hot babe in the next car over. giving up all that aint worth saving a few gallons of gas<br>

I lived in So Cal from 1947-1990, and again from 1999-2004 . I drove all of the freeways from their beginnings. Watched them go from a great way to get somewhere in a hurry, to parking lots. I was even a truck driver in the LA area from 1980-85. So I speak from experience when I say that those car pool lanes are one of those ideas that sound good on paper buy don't work in real life. Thousands of time's I noticed that the car pool lane had very few cars almost empty and the few cars that were using it were flying along at like 70mph, and all of the other lanes were stop and go. Sometimes out of frustration people will illegally enter the car pool lane, creating a deadly scenario. It just makes sense to me to open all of the lanes to help disperse the traffic as much as possible.<br><br>
I would love to see a huge monorail system that uses the space over the existing freeways. Now that would cut down on traffic.

<blockquote>With all due respect, my cycling brother, but why'd you have to go an'
start that?? The discussion is obviously going to lead to nothing
productive...</blockquote><br><br><br>With all due respect...one shouldn't badmouth another members post...<br><br>with all due respect., of course.<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/wink.gif"><br>

You're right, Jeff.<br><br>
And to t'other Jeff: I was wrong to criticize your thread, and I apologize. Last year I was all too familiar with that agitated, out-of-sorts place... I'm with you...

A traffic jam here is 15 cars. I sometimes chuckle at that. I'll be sitting there and saying "what in the world is the hold up" while being able to count the cars holding me up. <img src="http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif">

Jeff, everything's cool. I got a chuckle that Greg noticed the thread was out of character for me.<br><br>
But back to the actual topic, which I've been avoiding. I think for the Twin Cities area, the theory's been great but the actual implementation hasn't come close to what they were hoping for. No one's really changed their mentality (for a host of reasons--some just attitude, and some quite legit) so the lanes are very under utilized. They opened them up as toll roads for single occupancy and that really brought out a big debate about "lanes for the rich." MNDOT has their hands tied, because the feds tied the existing lanes (I394) to federal funds. I35W south of downtown Minneapolis is getting new HOV lanes, opening up the great debate about how effective they'll be. At the same time though, they're an additional lane, so they aren't "taking away" existing capacity.<br><br>
I think they're a great idea, and I wish/hope they could work everywhere. I'm also a realist, so get torn about where I actually stand, given the complexity of everything involved. Clear as mud?

This thread so far is productive...lots of thoughts about it I see...got my puter up and running again, so here goes...<br>So let's see...the low emission cars get to use the carpool lanes with one or more occupants. One? Why one? What good is that? Why shouldn't they be in the regular lanes like other people with one occupant? THAT seems like stupid logic (or no logic) to me, zero. That solo person is paying the same amount of gas tax as the cars in the stop and go lanes, actually less since they are getting more miles per gallon, thus paying less taxes. The cars in the other lanes are paying the same taxes per gallon, yet they can't use that one lane that hardly anyone uses. I believe that to be an infringement of the rights of the people in the stop and go lanes. They pay the same tax per gallon! Why is it fair for everyone to pay the same tax for the road, yet not have access to the entire roadway??? <br>I think it makes more sense for the low emission vehicles to only be allowed in the non carpool lanes since they emit less pollution. Think how cleaner our air would be if we did that? The higher emission cars wouldn't be in that stop and go mode emitting more pollution than necessary. When the traffic flows, it creates LESS pollution. Stop and go actually creates more pollution, so I say open up the road to all people who pay the same gas tax per gallon, and watch the traffic flow much better, and we can "save the planet" at the same time.<br>What is to argue about that?<br>Vote for me for King, and I'll make all your wildest dreams come true...<br><br>Here's an example of rush hour(s) traffic on Highway 50 near my house. 3 lanes of pavement, only two lanes for single drivers, the left lane for low emission cars, and two or more occupants in other vehicles. Two lanes of stop and go, wasting fuel and emitting planet killing fumes...the "carpool" lane has a car whiz by once in a while...see any in the mirror? See any in front?<br><img src="http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y103/ScottWheels/IMG_5582.jpg" alt="image"><br>It's pretty darn frustrating to pay for all the road, yet confined to designated lanes only. Not everyone can carpool or afford a new low emission car. I can't work out of one anyway, like so many other business owners or employees...<br>It's a plain...shame...<br>More government control for "feel good" legislation that is ineffective and silly...in my opinion of course!!<br>FREE OUR CARPOOL LANES!!!<img src="http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/images/smilies/gr_bs.gif"><br>

Scottyboy for KING!!!

<blockquote><b>SHEEPERS FOR KING!!!!!!!</b></blockquote>

<font size="1"><blockquote>people dont wanna car pool including me. who wants to drive to work with
2 or 3 schmucks you dont even know??? suppose your nads itch or
something boy wouldn't you feel stupid trying to be incognito by saying
your looking for change in your pocket. i like to drive with pantera or
mudvayne at earsplitting levels, cant do that in a car pool. maybe i
wanna think outloud, pick my nose, scratch my butt, or i'm stuck in
traffic and i gotta pee in my coffee cup, or i wanna check out the hot
babe in the next car over. giving up all that aint worth saving a few
gallons of gas</blockquote><br>Did I really have to hear about nads, boogs , butt and pee all in the same thread? <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/chickluu/hee%20hee%20stuff/giggy.gif" alt="image"><br>I love this place...<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/chickluu/hee%20hee%20stuff/smileys/emoticon-0136-giggle.gif" alt="image"><br></font>

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flatline....

So that's it? This thread is dead now?<br><br>My points and thoughts couldn't save it??<br><br>Do my comments even seem sane at all, or just a bunch of incoherent ramblings???<br>

<font color="#cc0000">Well Scott, you can do what hubby did.......Pay thousands of dollars extra for a hybrid Civic over the regular Civic... and join the car pool lane. The extra thousands of dollars will generate extra sales tax for your state. You get to pay less gas tax.. You kinda stick it a little bit to the oil rich companies cause you will be buying less gasoline..(Not much but every little helps.) . You will be emitting less pollution cause you replaced your high emission car with a lower emission car..... and you can cruise on that wide open HOV lane and get home to your loved ones quicker.....<br><br><br>maribell</font>

<font color="#009999" face="Verdana">and if you are one of those carpoolers that likes to pick their boogers, scratch your xxxx and pee in a cup, you can go back to doing that if you buy a hybrid.. (I don't recall who wrote that and I don't feel like re-reading this thread.) </font><img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/tongue.gif"><br><br><br><br>maribell

Must not have read what I wrote...<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/ohwell.gif"><br>

Scott, your dismissal of the system is based solely on personal observation, and clouded by the fact that you think you're being unduly inconvenienced, which makes you look for anything to blame for the perceived problem. HOV lanes are an easy target in that regard. I think you need to understand more about how traffic works as a whole in order to pass judgement...<br><br>"Vote for me for King, and I'll make all your wildest dreams come true..."<br><br>Meaning if you become King, all the inner-city freeways will be transformed into bikeways, and we'll all be riding bicycles and ALL our traffic problems will instantly disappear?!?<br><br>[edited for grammar]

<blockquote>Scott, your dismissal of the system is based solely on personal
observation, and clouded by the fact that you think you're being unduly
inconvenienced, which makes you look for anything to blame for the
perceived problem. HOV lanes are an easy target in that regard. I think
you need to understand more about how traffic works as a whole in order
to pass judgement...</blockquote>My thoughts are clouded by me being inconvenienced? My thoughts are clouded by nothing, other than understanding that those lanes on the right aren't moving well. The lane off to the left for the "special" cars is moving fine because there are hardly any cars in it. Combining them has to increase traffic flow. It's not rocket science. Rocket Science is cloudy...literally...<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/happy.gif"><br><br><blockquote>Meaning if you become King, all the inner-city freeways will be
transformed into bikeways, and we'll all be riding bicycles and ALL our
traffic problems will instantly disappear?!?</blockquote>If you promise me your vote, I'll see what I can do...<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/laugh.gif"> Spoken like a true career politician!!<br>Upon exiting, to complete the political speak, "God bless America!"<img src="http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/roll.gif"><br><br><br>