Traffic panel rejects the opening up of HOV lanes

Friday, April 21, 2000

By HUNTER T. GEORGE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OLYMPIA -- Opening up Washington's car pool lanes to general traffic on weekends would be a big waste of money and possibly endanger lives, state transportation leaders said yesterday.

Faced with mounting public pressure, the seven-member Transportation Commission had signaled in March that some of the Puget Sound area's high-occupancy vehicle lanes could open to general traffic on Saturdays and Sundays by July, possibly under a pilot project.

But the commission, a citizen panel that sets Transportation Department policy, put the brakes on the issue after reviewing traffic data. Instead, the panel unanimously agreed to oppose HOV lane opening.

The decision runs counter to Gov. Gary Locke's election-year endorsement of the weekends-only idea.

Transportation commissioners said political points scored with frustrated motorists would not be worth the estimated $1 million cost of the pilot project, or the cost of lives.

"Clearly, it isn't an appropriate use of resources," Commissioner Chris Marr of Spokane said.

He added that the idea should not be pursued further unless the Legislature wants the panel "to spend $1 million to shut people up."

The commission, which does not report to the governor, agreed to write a resolution explaining the decision and listing alternative ways to spend the money and ease congestion, such as improving the efficiency of reversible express lanes on Interstate 5.

A vote on the resolution is expected in June.

Locke spokeswoman Dana Middleton said the governor was pleased the commission considered the change and offered alternatives.

"If we discover something doesn't work, it doesn't work. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't stop looking," she said.

Car pool lanes, limited in most cases to vehicles with two or more occupants, have come under scrutiny this year as motorists cope with I-5 congestion.

Republican lawmakers have advocated looser restrictions on the lanes and Tim Eyman, author of tax-slashing Initiative 695, is collecting signatures on Initiative 711, which would eliminate car pool lanes.

Converting HOV lanes to general-purpose lanes on weekends would have very little effect on traffic volumes or vehicle speeds, said Mark Hallenbeck, a University of Washington analyst.

"Do it for perception. Do it for public opinion," Hallenbeck told the commission. "But don't do it for congestion relief."

That's because the fraction of vehicles eligible to use HOV lanes on weekends varies from 30 percent to 60 percent, depending on location and time of day, he said.

But many of those motorists stick to the middle of the freeway because they figure they are more likely to be seen speeding in the left lane, he said. They move to the HOV lanes as congestion builds.

Toby Rickman, state traffic engineer, said the HOV lanes are considered "substandard" because they were added piecemeal to the existing highway system.

As a result, he said, some of the lanes and shoulders are narrower than others, the asphalt is uneven and sight distances are inadequate.

The findings show that Washington state's HOV lanes cannot be converted "without killing people or costing too much," Transportation Secretary Sid Morrison said.

Commissioners agreed.

"This has been incredibly enlightening," Chairwoman Connie Niva of Snohomish County said.

Commissioners identified other areas where they would rather spend the money:

Reduce the time it takes to switch the direction of the reversible express lanes on I-5 that send commuters in and out of Seattle. It can take as long as two hours to close the lanes, check to make sure there are no stragglers and then re-open the lanes, Morrison said.

Pay for tow-truck drivers or Washington State Patrol cadets to monitor the most congested areas and keep traffic moving by quickly clearing accidents and breakdowns.

-- Patrick (patrick1142@yahoo.com), April 21, 2000

Answers

Given that transportation in this state has been going to Hell in a hand-basket for the last thirty years under the guidance of this group, you would have to ask why anyone would even CARE what their opinion was.

VIVA Initiative 711!

zowie

-- (zowie@hotmail.com), April 21, 2000.

"Citizen panel says opening HOV lanes is stupid"

I AGREE 100%! I wo7uldn't open another HOV lane anywhere, and I'd convert the existing ones back to equal opportunity lanes.

-- (mark842@hotmail.com), April 21, 2000.

"Opening up Washington's car pool lanes to general traffic on weekends would be a big waste of money and possibly endanger lives, state transportation leaders said yesterday."

This sentence contains two of the oldest threats in the political business, money and safety. This tactic is used to instill fear and coerce the public into supporting political efforts. The political sell is that changes to the current HOV policies will somehow result in money being wasted and more people getting injured or killed. Of course the alleged state transportation leaders fail to elaborate on these two threats, much less qualify or quantify their statements. Unsubstantiated claims are the cornerstone of politics.

HOV lane restrictions must only operate during established weekday morning and evening commute hours. HOV lanes were originally designed to help reduce traffic congestion on freeways during commute hours only, not 24 hours a day.

Too bad, then the State Patrol could no longer issue citations to HOV offenders at 11:30pm on a Tuesday night, when there is so much freeway carpool traffic.

-- James Andrews (jimfive@hotmail.com), April 24, 2000.