I have performed a study that proves the HOV lanes are complete left-wing idiocy. Often they destroy the space that could be 2 or 3 normal lanes to create one HOV.
The same is true of toll lanes, only worse . . . because no one wants to pay a toll when they could go free one lane over.
There is NO DOUBT that HOV lanes are bad for the citizens, and bad for the environment.
They essentially take a lane out of service, pushing everyone into gridlock on those that remain. Cars idling and stopped on the freeway is bad for the environment.
It also causes obstruction for public safety vehicles to get on/off.
They created a lane that went south in the morning and north in the evening.
The only problem is that in order to make absolutely certain that no car went the wrong way at the wrong time, they had to surround it with lots of concrete with lots of controls for ingress and egress.
Basically they created a two-lane wide lane that went in only one direction.
They could have saved a lot of money and hassle if they had just added a new lane to each side of the freeway.
What idiots!
When I travel to California and see these HOV lanes I kinda laugh. The number of times I’ve been in very slow traffic and there’s this lane almost nobody is using. All the stopping and starting is the WORST from an environmental point of view - yet there’s this lane that could alleviate the congestion.
All roads should be toll. Why should I pay for the roads that I don’t use? Ultimate in socialism. Pay if you use. Don’t use the gubmint deadly force to extort money out of the taxpayers.