[Political Junkie Too]

Maybe they should reverse the purpose of the HOV diamond lanes. Why have the few cars with multiple occupants in the "fast lane," while all the other cars idle or inch along in the other lanes, wasting gas? Why not open all lanes to traffic and let the cars move along more quickly, get to their destinations sooner, and use less gas getting there?

-PJ

[Entrepreneur]

Maybe they should reverse the purpose of the HOV diamond lanes. Why have the few cars with multiple occupants in the "fast lane," while all the other cars idle or inch along in the other lanes, wasting gas? Why not open all lanes to traffic and let the cars move along more quickly, get to their destinations sooner, and use less gas getting there?

Yeah, that's one of my pet peeves. Take an 8 lane highway, cut out two HOV lanes, and all you do is reduce highway capacity by 25%, increasing congestion, pollution, aggravation, etc.

So why do we have the silly HOV lanes? That's easy...

1. Feelings - Libs "feel" better, smug, superior, and sanctimonious because they think they're "doing" something, even though it's little more than surrendering rights for a counterproductive purpose.

2. Revenue - There's lots of money fining HOV violators.

If you doubt the revenue, the fact that many areas are considering allowing anyone to use the HOV if they purchase a Speed Pass or Toll Tag. It's all about the revenue.

Frankly, I hope they do let people willing to pay a premium have access to HOV lanes. It will reduce congestion on other lanes. It's a voluntary tax. And if I value my time enough to pay a premium to get somewhere faster, I come out ahead and so do you (i.e., someone else takes on a greater tax burden, purportedly lowering yours - in truth the government will just waste the extra bounty).