AM HOV Sucks

VDOT's own statistics show that cheaters make up a very small percentage of the total number of vehicles over the entire restricted time span.

Dr. Gridlock says cheaters cause the clogs in the HOV lanes. How he knows this without actually using HOV himself is a great mystery.

Perhaps he lumps I66 and I95 HOV lanes together. Everyone knows cheaters are rife on 66.

On I95, there are plenty of cheaters at the very beginning of the a.m. rush and the last ten minutes of the p.m. rush. Anyone surprised by that?

But VDOT's stats show, without question, that it is the exponential growth in the number of hybrid vehicles that is causing the lanes to congest. They are the only element that has changed in the past two years. Remove them from the equation and we have faster flow on the HOV lanes.

That's not just my opinion, it is the considered opinion of the professional traffic managers at VDOT.

(And before some idjit opens his big yap to denigrate VDOT's staff, please present YOUR professional qualifications regarding transportation management. You got your degree in what?)

From the executive summary of VDOT's January 2005 HOV Task Force Report:

"Traffic counts on the I-95 HOV lanes showed that clean fuel plates more than tripled from 480 in the spring of 2004 to 1,700 in October 2004, accounting for 18 percent of HOV traffic.

The rapid growth in hybrids has helped push the I-95 HOV lanes beyond the recommended HOV operating capacity, which is 1,500 to 1,800 vehicles per lane, per hour."

Still want to argue with the professionals?

As I said, it is the INCREASE in hybrids which is responsible for the INCREASE in congestion.

Cheating has stayed at the same level as always: it moved from 21% to 22%. As VDOT noted, nearly all of the cheating occurs in the first 20 minutes of each HOV-only period as SOV's that entered legally stay on the road past their time.

I seldom see obvious cheaters during my commute, presuming all those law enforcement SOVs are legal.

You can have your opinion, NoSUV, but facts is facts.

An apparent, not real, contradiction.

During the first and last portions of each HOV session, the percentage of cheaters approaches 80% of the vehicles, or roughly 4 out of 5.

During the central portion of the session, when MOST of the HOV commuting takes place, the volume of cheaters is much lower. At a guess, I'd say one vehicle in 15 or 20, just based on my own 12 years of traveling the lanes.

So, from 5% to 80%... averaged out you get 1 in 5 for the total period. Around 20%.

Also, who can tell who is a cheater? VDOT's methodology might have pumped up the cheater volume by saying all SOV's are cheaters unless they are clearly marked law vehicles or CF's.

The main point to drive into NoSUV's willfuly ignorant brain is, the lanes were not clogged until the hybrids started showing up in large numbers. To say the current clogs are the result of a previously existing factor, the cheaters, is simply illogical.

Look: you can trust a rooted invertebrate for all your math needs.

simple?! What time are you talking about? 4:30am? 70-75 is not being realistic. HOV nowadays moves 55mph most of the way. I've seen the regular lanes move faster than HOV lately.

quote:

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Originally posted by NoSUV
[br]Sponge, VDOT's study actually showed that the percentage of cheaters was about the same as the percentage of hybrids - between 19 and 22%. I was surprised by how simple the commute on 395 was this morning - 70-75 mph most of the way. HOV still moving at more than 35 mph over the regular lanes.

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Have to say, I got to work 5 minutes early today! WAAHHOOOOOOOOO!!!

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