Effectiveness of California’s High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) System
نویسنده
چکیده
California’s HOV system comprises 1,171 lane-miles, with 803 miles in the South and 366 in the North. This study analyzes peak period traffic data from hundreds of loop detectors over many months in order to evaluate the system’s effectiveness. The study finds: (1) HOV lanes are underutilized: 81% of HOV detectors measure flows below 1,400 vehicles per hour (vph); (2) Many HOV lanes suffer degraded operations: 18 percent of all HOV-miles during the AM peak hour and 32 percent during the PM peak hour have speeds below 45 mph for more than 10 percent of weekdays; (3) HOV lanes suffer a 20% capacity penalty: HOV lanes achieve a maximum flow of 1,600 vph at 45 mph; in contrast general purpose lanes record maximum flows above 2,000 vph at 60 mph; (4) HOV lanes offer small travel time savings: The mean savings over a random 10-mile route traveling on an HOV lane vs. lane 1 is 1.7 minutes, the median is 0.7 minutes; (5) Travel time savings do not to provide a statistically significant incentive for carpooling; (6) A system with one HOV lane and three general purpose lanes carries the same number of persons per hour as a system with four general purpose lanes; (7) HOV lanes reduce overall congestion slightly when the general purpose lanes are allowed to become congested. Despite these negative findings, HOV facilities can play a useful role in a well-managed overall freeway system in California. That role is briefly enunciated.
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