It Matters What You Call It

Ugh, I don't like "restricted lanes" ever. What the heck does that mean? No wonder the guy in F'burg was confused.

I know there are buses and motorcycles and so on..., but you see, Bob, there is the genius of my design: by calling it carpool lanes first, not bus lanes, or HOV, or restricted lanes, etc., we assert the primacy of the vast majority of users - those sharing rides in private vehicles. MOST of the people in the lanes, in fact.

The rest use the lanes on sufference.

(and, to pre-empt him -- No, NoSUV, I'm not talking about Slugs having pre-eminence, but Ride-Sharers as a whole, most of whom are NOT Slugs.)

I don't see any problem with the HOV term but I agree that "carpool" has a lot of positive connotations. Note also that it is called HOV because it includes not just carpools but van pools and buses.

I agree that names matter. As example, I saw a recent letter in the Fredericksburg paper by a hi-bred and he was implying that because the VDOT signs use the term "restricted lanes" that means that hybrids are ok for all time. Of course, the restricted lanes term was surely just a way of simplifying, since it is does include buses, motorcylces, and yes hybrids until they are dis-allowed. But the guy was saying, -see it is "restricted" not just carpools ERGO hybrids forever.

How about "easy-riders," or "easies." Yea, I know its a throw-back to those hippy days, but its fun and playful.

How about "heroes" for carpool drivers. Since we're working on naming conventions today, let's settle on "high-breds" for hybrids, and "pick-pocket lanes" for HOTs.

I've got more! How about "turn-coats" for politicians who support the "high-bred" exemption and the "pick-pocket" lanes.

Any other ideas?

OK ... will VDOT now change all their signage, websites, regulations to redesignate them officially as "car pool (CP) lanes"? [;)]

We would then have CP-3 on I-95/395, and CP-2 on I-66 and I-64/264. [:p] Love it! [:p]

In a public relations battle, it matters very much what you call something. Clever minds have come up with all sorts of alternative words and phrases designed to mold public opinion.

Consider "downsizing", "right-sizing", "embedding", and "nicotine-delivery systems", to name but a few.

Yes, distasteful, I know, but consider the emotional resonance of "processing facility" versus "slaughterhouse". We need to consider how our word-choices influence public perception of HOV as an undeserved "perk".

I propose that we stop calling them the HOV lanes and start referring to them every time as "carpool lanes".

Carpools are cool. Nobody objects to carpools. They are seen as Regular Joe, a very mainstream American activity. Dagwood carpools. Regular folks carpool. It's a social activity, a recognized Good Idea, an everyday occurrence.

And everybody understands what a carpool lane is. I submit that most people think its fair that carpoolers have a reserved lane and that buses and vans use that lane, too.

But ask most people what HOV means, and they equate it with favoritism, or cheating, or special exemptions. "HOV", as a term, carries with it a sense of mere happenstance, as if it is simply a matter of luck if you are over or under the arbitrary HOV number. "Hey, I happen to have three people in my car today! I get to use HOV!"

A carpool, on the other hand, is something you have to create. Everyone understands that carpools don't simply "happen". People have to make a carpool. And everyone understands that a carpool means fewer vehicles clogging up the roads.

So "carpools", as a word, taps into a reservoir of good-feeling, while HOV is an arbitrary, state-constructed concept.

And it's Toll Roads, not HOT, right?