I’ve seen several that were converted to generic use after about 5 years of special treatment.
Did they somehow “fail”?
Or was the plan all along a way to get an extra lane out of special funding sources?
Plenty of “diamond” lanes in Southern California. More are being added down here. It’s one of the few things that can be done to improve this area’s traffic.
I’ve heard about studies being done to determine whether the diamond lanes are effective or not; but I don’t know the results. I’ll just watch to see if anyone posts them here… I’m very curious.
I heartily agree with a somewhat recent editor’s column in Car and Driver pointing out how great it is to drive the diamond lane: In other words, how much it sucks for everyone else.
Take my tax money and build lanes I can’t drive in, and waste gas by letting some lanes lie relatively empty, will you…
What they should be arranging is reversable lanes to alleviate the congestion of the heavy direction during rush hour (both).
There. I’m sure that’s solved since I posted it on the SDMB. Grey Davis reads this, right?
It’s Gray, not Grey.
In SoCal at least, diamond lanes haven’t been taken from existing freeway. They have usually been carved out using shoulders or by making the lanes narrower. I seem to remember hearing somewhere that the diamond lanes of the 70’s, where they did take a lane away from the freeway was met with such a strong public backlash that they gave them up.
Besides, carpool lanes are really just family lanes, as your average SoCal resident is far too NIMBYistic.
I hate carpool lanes. They are just a waste on the freeways here in So. Cal. and even those who drive in that lane are slower than the lane next to them. It is time to effectively remove them to help the “family-less” people of this state.
Um, shouldn’t this belong in a different forum like MPSIMS?