When I commuted a while ago I’d frequently go past state police monitoring the car pool lanes on entry ramps, and I saw people being stopped. (Bay Area.) Now the car pool lanes - which you can use as a single driver with FastTrak - have toll tag readers, license plate readers, and cameras which take pictures of how many are in the car. So you’ll get a ticket, and they don’t need a cop to do it. Or they’ll charge you.
The toll tags have a switch telling how many are in the car also. For some lanes the carpool number is 2, for many, like I80, it is 3.
Actually that varies depending on what part of the state you’re in. In Northern California, carpool lanes are effective rush hours only, just as you said. But in Southern California, carpool lanes are effective 24/7/365.
Not the one closest to me in Carpinteria and Ventura. It’s rush hour only. I’m not positive but I thought the LA ones were rush hour also. I’ll be driving through tomorrow and I’ll take a look.
Might be only LA and Orange counties.
We spent a week in Hamilton last year, taking the QEW into Toronto for a day. I believe that the carpool lane had hours posted. Outside of those hours, it was a regular lane.
When the Long Island Expressway opened up it’s carpool lane it had an unintended consequence of many huge SUV’s getting very dark window tint.
Ninja’d! I was recently driving just outside of NYC on the Jersey side. Cars were blowing by me in HOV lane. Nearly every one has dark tinted windows.
This is also true in Ontario.
Just got back from visiting Mom in San Diego and it is. I got to use my sticker.