Charlotte may finally achieve its much sought after “world class city” status when high-occupancy lanes open next week. Don’t all truly big cities have the funny diamond markings on their roads? Alternatively, Charlotte may simply join the ranks of American cities that jumped at money for HOV lanes without any real plan for how to use them. Only time will tell.
You need only look to the forlorn bus lane running down the middle of Independence Blvd. to see what happens when new road capacity is poorly planned and under utilized. The HOV lanes on I-77 are too important to suffer the same fate.
State and local officials certainly seem to have the enforcement concept firmly in place with $100 fines and two points on a solo HOVer driver’s license, putting HOV violations in the same class as all other lesser moving violations. One HOV citation could cost a driver thousands of dollars once higher insurance premiums are factored in. Enforcement was also made easier by making the lanes HOV-only 24-hours a day, as opposed to rush hour only.
So let’s assume these measures work and HOV lanes are kept free of solo drivers, will they work as intended? HOV can help relieve congestion, but there are doubts that HOV lanes do much to reduce auto emissions. Less congestion surely means lower emissions, no doubt, but often only at the margins. This is fine if the primary goal is to reduce traffic congestion. However, there seems to be confusion about what exactly the Metrolina region’s overall transportation policy really might be. Is it to reduce emissions or congestion, or some of both?
Local leaders have repeatedly warned that air pollution “non-attainment” for the region risks the loss of federal funds, hence putting emission control on the front-burner, or so it seems. If emission reduction is the primary goal, then some thought might be given to allowing low-emission hybrid vehicles to use HOV lanes regardless of the number of occupants. This may push local commuters to absorb the higher initial cost of such vehicles in return for access to the HOV lanes. Yes, this change would make enforcement more difficult as well as load up HOV lanes with more passenger vehicles. And it would, in time, reduce the lane’s effectiveness for mass transit uses too. But, again, it depends what exactly the primary goal for HOV might be.
Given the current hybrid-banning rules, these HOV lanes would be a good match for a robust express bus service to the northern parts of Mecklenburg County, provided enough park-and-ride space can be found to support the effort. Commuters stuck in traffic might begin to wonder about the trade-offs if they consistently are lapped by buses zooming down HOV lanes.
To further maximize congestion-reduction the best choice might be to eventually move to some sort of toll system for the lanes as many other cities have done or now contemplate. Years of watching HOV lanes essentially sit unused has spurred some movement toward HOT lanes – high occupancy/toll that allow solo drivers to pay for HOV access. Initially this the approach would require a larger investment for an upgraded HOV system, but in theory it would be recouped with toll revenue. Again, what is the primary goal here?
Finally, there is one big disconnect with the current HOV concept when the overall mass transit grid is brought into focus. An express bus-friendly HOV system, which the current rules now favor and seem to intend, would compete directly with the proposed Northern leg of the light rail system. In essence, Charlotte would be stuck with a belt-and-suspenders approach to mass transit, not to mention the higher overall cost of light rail when compared to express buses.
Given these facts the unfortunate conclusion is that the primary goal of transportation policy for the region does not really extend beyond getting people out of their cars by any means necessary. Bus, train, motorcycle, pedal-cab — let’s build them all just so long as those nasty cars go away. This, of course, is totally divorced from reality and doomed to failure.
HOV lanes, especially when paired with some sort of congestion pricing mechanism, can help roadways operate more efficiently. They cannot, however, overthrow America’s car-centric culture and economy. But that is not a problem unless you are a crypto car-hating zealot, right?
Right.