cam, 234 words, 6 comments, Traffic, Transportation, Lexus Lanes, California

When I was in Washington DC there was discussion of putting in pay-for commuter lanes in the same manner as HOV lanes. Naturally they got the moniker Lexus Lanes due to the impression that only the wealthy would pay for them.

Time lapse traffic from splorp's photostream

New Jersey originally had HOV lanes for high occupancy vehicles but in 1999 when I first started commuting down Rt.287 they removed them. It seems they caused more trouble than they were worth and it was simpler and easier to open up all the lanes to general commuter traffic. New Jersey did a pretty good job of keeping the traffic flowing.

California's Bay Area is thinking of introducing Lexus Lanes. It is a tough thing to bring as public roads are already payed for through a mix of county, state and federal taxes. They are a public asset that have already been payed for. So introducing a free market aspect to them, what is seen as a shared resource, is difficult to do. As always the money goes to something altruistic - like schools, paying for road maintenance (which is already financed through taxes), etc.

The other issue facing policy makers is that roads are very expensive and congestion is real. It will not get better and the car remains the most efficient means of transportation, and will continue to be so. (reply)