High-occupancy Vehicle Lane - History

History

United States

The introduction of HOV lanes in the U.S. progressed slowly during the 1970s and early 1980s. Major growth occurred from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. The first freeway HOV lane in the United States was implemented in the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway in Northern Virginia, between Washington DC and the Capital Beltway, and was opened in 1969 as a bus-only lane. The busway was opened in December 1973 to carpools with four or more occupants, becoming the first instance in which buses and carpools officially shared a HOV lane over a considerable distance. As of 2005, the two lanes of this HOV 3+ facility were carrying during the morning peak hour (6:30 am to 9:30 am) a total of 31,700 people in 8,600 vehicles (3.7 persons/veh) while the 3 or 4 general purpose lanes carried 23,500 people in 21,300 vehicles (1.1 persons/veh). Average travel time in the HOV facility is 29 min while 64 min in the general traffic lanes. As of 2012, the I-95/I395 HOV facility is 30 mi (48 km) long and extends from Washington, D.C. to Dumfries, Virginia, has two reversible lanes separated from the regular lanes by barriers, with access through on and off elevated ramps. Three or more people in a vehicle (HOV 3+) are required to travel on the facility during rush hours on weekdays.

The second freeway HOV facility was the contraflow bus lane on the Lincoln Tunnel Approach and Helix in Hudson County, New Jersey in 1970. According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Lincoln Tunnel XBL is the country's HOV facility with the highest number of peak hour persons among HOV facilities with utilization data available, with 23,500 persons in the morning peak, and 62,000 passengers during the 4-hour morning peak.

The first permanent HOV facility in California was the bypass lane at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toll plaza, opened to the public in April 1970. The El Monte Busway (I-10 / San Bernardino Freeway) in Los Angeles was initially only available for buses when it opened in 1973. Three-person carpools were allowed to use the bus lane for 3 months in 1974 due to a strike by bus operators and then permanently at a 3+ HOV from 1976. It is one of the most efficient HOV facilities in North America and it currently being converted to High occupancy toll lane operation to allow low-occupancy vehicles to bid for excess capacity on the lane in the Metro ExpressLanes project.

Beginning in the 1970s, the Urban Mass Transit Administration recognized the advantages of exclusive bus lanes and encouraged their funding. In the 1970s the FHWA began to allow state highway agencies to spend federal funds on HOV lanes. As a result of the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, interest in ridesharing picked up and the states began experimenting with HOV lanes. In order to reduce crude oil consumption, the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act mandated maximum speed limits of 55 mph (89 km/h) on public highways and became the first instance where the U.S. federal government began providing funding for ridesharing and states were allowed to spend their highway funds on rideshare demonstration projects. The 1978 Surface Transportation Assistance Act made funding for rideshare initiatives permanent.

Also during the early 1970s, ridesharing was recommended for the first time as a tool to mitigate air quality problems. The 1970 Clean Air Act Amendments established the National Ambient Air Quality Standards and gave the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) substantial authority to regulate air quality attainment. A final control plan for the Los Angeles Basin was issued in 1973, and one of its main provisions was a two-phase conversion of 184 mi (296 km) of freeway and arterial roadway lanes to bus/carpool lanes and the development of a regional computerized carpool matching system. However, it took until 1985 before any HOV project was constructed in Los Angeles County, and by 1993 there were only 58 mi (93 km) of HOV lanes countywide.

A significant policy shift took place in October 1990, when a memorandum from the FHWA administrator stated that "FHWA strongly supports the objective of HOV preferential facilities and encourages the proper application of HOV technology." Regional administrators were directed to promote HOV lanes and related facilities. Also in the early 1990s two laws reinforced the U.S. commitment to HOV lane construction. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 included HOV lanes as one of the transportation control measures that could be included in state implementation plans to attain federal air quality standards. The 1990 amendments also deny the administrator of the EPA the authority to block FHWA from funding 24-hour HOV lanes as part of the sanctions for a state's failure to comply with the Clean Air Act, if the secretary of transportation wishes to approve the FHWA funds. On the other hand, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991 encouraged the construction of HOV lanes, which were made eligible for Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds in regions not attaining federal air quality standards. CMAQ funds may be spent on new HOV lane construction, even if the HOV designation holds only at peak travel times or in the peak direction. ISTEA also provided that under the Interstate Maintenance Program, only HOV projects would receive the 90% federal matching ratio formerly available for the addition of general purpose lanes. And ISTEA permitted state authorities to define a high occupancy vehicle as having a minimum of two occupants (HOV 2+).

As of 2009, California, with 88 HOV facilities, was the state with the most HOV lanes in the country, followed by Minnesota with 83 facilities, Washington State with 41, Texas with 35, and Virginia with 21. The only active U.S. facility with two HOV lanes in each direction is I-110 between Adams Blvd. and SR 91 in Los Angeles. By 2006 HOV lanes in California were operating at two-thirds of their capacity, and these HOV facilities carried on average 2,518 persons per hour during peak hours, substantially more people than a congested general traffic lanes. As of 2008, the longest HOV facility in operation was the I-95 between SR 112 and Gateway Boulvard in Miami, Florida, with 116.0 mi (186.7 km) of lanes in a route of 58.0 mi (93.3 km). This facility will be exceeded by the HOV facility under construction in the I-495 Capital Beltway in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area that will have two HOV lanes in each direction with elevated on/off ramp access, for a total of 224.0 mi (360.5 km) of HOV lanes in a route of 56.0 mi (90.1 km).

As of 2012, there are some 126 HOV facilities on freeways in 27 metropolitan areas in the United States, which includes over 1,000 route miles (1,600 km).

Canada

The first HOV facilities in Canada were opened in Greater Vancouver and Toronto in the early 1990s, followed shortly by Ottawa, Gatineau, Montreal and later by Calgary. As of 2010 there were around 150 km (93 mi) of highway HOV lanes in 11 locations in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, and over 130 km (81 mi) of arterial HOV lanes in 24 locations in Greater Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Gatineau. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) estimated in 2006 that commuters in Toronto using the HOV facilities on Highways 403 and 404 were saving between 14 to 17 minutes per trip compared to their travel time before the HOV lanes opened. The MTO also estimated that there were almost 40% of commuters carpooling on Highway 403 eastbound in the morning peak hour compared to only 14% in 2003; and 37% of commuters carpool on Highway 403 westbound in the afternoon peak hour compared to only 22% in 2003. The average rush hour speed on the HOV lanes is 100 km/h (62 mph) compared to 60 km/h (37 mph) in general traffic lanes on Highway 403.

Europe

As of 2012 there are a few HOV lanes in operation in Europe. The main reason is that in general European cities have far better public transport services and fewer high capacity multi-lane urban motorways than the U.S. and Canada. However, at around 1.3 persons per vehicle, average car occupancy is relatively low in most European cities. The emphasis in Europe has been on providing bus lanes and on-street bus priority measures. The first HOV lane in Europe was opened in the Netherlands in October 1993 and operated until August 1994. The HOV facility was a 7 km (4.3 mi) barrier-separated HOV 3+ on the A1 near Amsterdam. The facility did not attract enough users to overcome public criticism and was converted to a reversible lane open to the general traffic after the judge in a legal test case ruled that Dutch traffic law lacked the concept of a car pool and thus that the principle of equality was violated.

Spain was the next European country to introduced high-occupancy vehicle lanes, when median reversible HOV lanes were opened in Madrid’s N-VI National Highway in 1995. This facility is Europe's oldest HOV facility still in operation. The first HOV facility in the United Kingdom opened in Leeds in 1998. The facility was implemented on A647 road near Leeds, as an experimental scheme but it became permanent. The HOV lanes is 1.5 km (0.93 mi) long and operates as a HOV 2+ facility. A 2.8 km (1.7 mi) HOV 3+ facility opened in Linz, Austria in 1999. Sweden opened its first HOV lane in Stockholm in 2000, an 8 km (5.0 mi) HOV 3+ facility. The first HOV lane in Norway was implemented in May 2001 as a HOV 3+ on Elgeseter Street, an undivided four-lane arterial road in Trondheim. This facility was followed by HOV lanes implemented in Oslo and Kristiansand.

New Zealand and Australia

The first HOV lane or transit lane opened in Australia in February 1992. This HOV 2+ lane is located on the Eastern Highway in Melbourne. As of 2012 there are also HOV facilities in Sydney and Brisbane.

In Auckland, New Zealand, there are several short HOV 2+ and 3+ lanes throughout the region, commonly known as T2 and T3 lanes. There is a T2 transit lane in Tamaki Drive, in a short stretch between Glendowie and downtown Auckland. There are also T2 priority lanes on Auckland's Northern, Southern, Northwestern and Southwestern Motorways. These priority lanes are left side on-ramp lanes heading towards the motorway, where vehicles with 2 or more people can bypass the ramp meter signal. Priority lanes can also be used by trucks, buses and motorcycles, and the priority lanes can be used by carpoolers at any time. There are also several short T2 and T3 facilities in North Shore City operating during rush hours.