I live in Los Angeles, and we have some of the worst traffic in the country. I’ve seen that one reason for carpool lanes is to help traffic congestion, but I don’t understand since it seems traffic could be a lot better if we could all use every lane.
Why do we still use carpool lanes? Wouldn’t it drastically help our traffic to open all lanes?
In: 406
Building more lanes does not make traffic better. This is due to induced demand, an effect that has been well-studied and accepted by urban planners since the 1930s, but one that many people are in denial about (or purposefully lie about to sell more cars).
The only solution to car traffic is viable alternatives to driving. LA traffic is so bad because the city is designed almost exclusively for driving and there are no viable alternatives.
With respect to HOV lanes, they are really there to reduce VMT (vehicle miles travelled) which is mostly to reduce pollution, but does get some cars off the road due to carpooling.
The YouTuber City Nerd haut released a good video about HOV lanes: https://youtu.be/3FYeebu0S4c
But fundamentally, there is no solution to car traffic, except viable alternatives to driving. Anybody who tells you otherwise is either ignorant, or is trying to sell you cars.
Building more lanes does not make traffic better. This is due to induced demand, an effect that has been well-studied and accepted by urban planners since the 1930s, but one that many people are in denial about (or purposefully lie about to sell more cars).
The only solution to car traffic is viable alternatives to driving. LA traffic is so bad because the city is designed almost exclusively for driving and there are no viable alternatives.
With respect to HOV lanes, they are really there to reduce VMT (vehicle miles travelled) which is mostly to reduce pollution, but does get some cars off the road due to carpooling.
The YouTuber City Nerd haut released a good video about HOV lanes: https://youtu.be/3FYeebu0S4c
But fundamentally, there is no solution to car traffic, except viable alternatives to driving. Anybody who tells you otherwise is either ignorant, or is trying to sell you cars.
If a car has 5 seats, and 5 people are in it, that means there are less cars than if each had 1 person in it…
It’s not just for congestion though, it’s for the environment too
If a car has 5 seats, and 5 people are in it, that means there are less cars than if each had 1 person in it…
It’s not just for congestion though, it’s for the environment too
> It seems like having another lane open to everyone would make things better?
oh my sweet summer child.
also no they are trying to band aid the horrible traffic by getting several people into one vehicle. someone should really work on that! like the vehicle could have a designated driver, it would be big so many people fit and it would stop at alot of places so alot of different people could carpool together. Man i wish we had something like that :/
maybe it could even be on some kind of “rail” and it could have its completley own lane so it didnt even have to sit in traffic! man i wish we had something like that
> It seems like having another lane open to everyone would make things better?
oh my sweet summer child.
also no they are trying to band aid the horrible traffic by getting several people into one vehicle. someone should really work on that! like the vehicle could have a designated driver, it would be big so many people fit and it would stop at alot of places so alot of different people could carpool together. Man i wish we had something like that :/
maybe it could even be on some kind of “rail” and it could have its completley own lane so it didnt even have to sit in traffic! man i wish we had something like that
Citynerd made a video on HOV lanes literally this week: [https://youtu.be/3FYeebu0S4c](https://youtu.be/3FYeebu0S4c)
Re: your question – if the HOV lane leads to a pinch point, switching to a regular lane doesn’t help you reach the destination faster – at best, you get extra space for jammed cars, so the jam doesn’t spill back as far back/as quickly.
Citynerd made a video on HOV lanes literally this week: [https://youtu.be/3FYeebu0S4c](https://youtu.be/3FYeebu0S4c)
Re: your question – if the HOV lane leads to a pinch point, switching to a regular lane doesn’t help you reach the destination faster – at best, you get extra space for jammed cars, so the jam doesn’t spill back as far back/as quickly.
100 people drive to work, that means there are 100 cars on the road
100 people go to work, but they ride two to a car, there are 50 cars on the road
etc etc etc.
100 people drive to work, that means there are 100 cars on the road
100 people go to work, but they ride two to a car, there are 50 cars on the road
etc etc etc.
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