The HOV-3 to HOV-2 Suggestion

Did some research. It went to HOV3 in 1989.

There was only HOV north of springfield at that time. It wasnt until 1991 that the "diamond lanes" opened and in 1995-97 the full isolated lanes went to Dale City area.

I'm pretty sure that in 1989, the section of HOV north of springfield was quite a bit under-utilized, and vanpools made up a lot of it. Slugging was going pretty strond and I guess carpools put some pressure on to get the change to HOV3.

One thing a lot of people don't realize with HOV-4 is that a regular carpool has a hard time with it, and back in the old days, a lot of carpools had 5 members to make things work when someone was out.



from

http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Shirley_Highway.html

The establishment of the reversible 2-lane busway/HOV roadway system on Shirley Highway followed this sequence: The concept originated in 1964, was implemented in 1969 as the first exclusive bus facility on a U.S. urban freeway, and was completed from Springfield to downtown D.C. in 1971 albeit via a temporary one-lane roadway through the reconstruction of the northernmost several miles of the highway in Arlington. On December 10, 1973, automobiles with four or more occupants (HOV-4) were permitted access to the previously exclusive bus lanes at a few selected access points. In July 1975, the 10-year-long staged reconstruction and expansion of Shirley Highway was completed, and the full 2-lane express reversible roadway was completed, and the express traffic uses the 4-lane (2 lanes each way) center bridge of the 14th Street Bridge to cross the Potomac River into and out of the District of Columbia.

In January 1989, HOV-3 went into effect on I-395/I-95. In June 1989, construction began on the 19-mile-long extension of the reversible 2-lane HOV roadway from Springfield to Quantico Creek. In December 1991, interim concurrent flow HOV lanes opened on six miles of I-95 shoulders, from US-1 to VA-644, with 18 emergency pulloffs available for motorists. In June 1992, the Franconia/Springfield Parkway opened to traffic, giving HOV/busway vehicles direct access between the I-95 HOV lanes and the Parkway. In September 1992, motorcycles were given legal access to all HOV facilities in Virginia. In November 1994, the reversible HOV roadway was extended from Springfield to one mile south of Newington. In June 1995, the reversible HOV roadway was extended to Occoquan. In January 1996, the reversible HOV roadway was extended to Optiz Blvd. In June 1997, the reversible HOV roadway was extended to south of VA-234. Thirty miles of 2-lane reversible HOV roadway now exists on I-95 and I-395 between south of VA-234 in Prince William County, and 14th Street and the Southwest Freeway in Washington, D.C.

NO!!! I would urge a strong no to dropping the limit. Would really hurt slugging, think of all the drivers would would only take one! The traffic in the main lanes is slow cause those people dont use their options. They CHOOSE to drive in slow lanes when they could slug, metro, bus or any other half dozen ways to work (I am sure someone boats up teh potomac from stafford everyday).

I think 3 is great, would be better if the otehr highways wend HOV-3. It pushes creative solutions for traffic, like slugging, or carpools. We shouldn't change it but expand it.

But the express lanes on I-395 are NOT congested, and the regular lanes are!

Did everyone see the incentives other localities are using such as reduced parking? Unfortunately, that decreases revenue and becomes an indirect tax increase for others. Hybrid exemption doesn't cost taxpayers and needs to be extended - clearly better for the environment than non-hybrid vehicles, and the more non-taxpayer incentives there are, the better.

NoSUV,
You are clearly only concerned about the hybrid exemption because you own one. Surely, you are not suggesting that the HOV lanes are not congested. Of course there are times when it is LESS congested, but there are still plenty of backups on the HOV on a regular basis. The reason for this, the huge increase in hybrid vehicles (gotta credit the lack of law enforcement for the violators on this one too). I love the hybrid technology as it is more fuel efficient, but the real goal we should be trying attain, is to get more cars off the roads. The only way to achieve this is to promote mass transit, and slugging. You are hurting yourself in the long run if you SOV'it as you are really just making your commute, and everyone else's longer.

YES- a SMART newbie!! Welcome slugjo.

GMHP was hea!