Express Lanes No Good for Courier, Delivery Services
None by KCPW
(KCPW News) New double-striping on the I-15 carpool lane may have one unintended consequence. Courier and delivery services that had considered buying Express Lane monthly passes for their drivers aren't likely to do so now. New rules restrict entry and exit of the carpool lane to just a few spots along the freeway.A UPS spokesman says drivers of the company's "brown trucks" need more access than the striping allows. A contractor for Fast Lane Courier says buying passes for every driver in the company would not be cost-effective, since they don't have regular routes that include I-15.
Instead, UDOT spokesman Nile Easton says 90 percent of inquiries about the 50-dollar monthly passes are from people eager to shave some time off their commute. The first 600 passes for the Express Lane go on sale this Thursday at 10 a.m. at www.expresslanes.utah.gov.
Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW
1. Michael T. Packard said:
These HOT lanes are a waste. The striping minimizes any utility they might have had.
Even though carpooling has a far larger share of trips than transit, the HOV/HOT lanes are a waste. They are underfunded. If we spent half as much on a full 2-lane HOV/HOT lane system on all our freeways, with optimized exits, as is being dumped on UTA, we would have a system worth using.
It would work even better with coming smart car/smart highway systems to optimize travel and minimize miles for those super-smart cars.
To understand this, simply ask yourself, "What would Bill Gates have me do?" He's been pushing the smart car/ smart highway agenda. Smart vans would also cut congestion. (UTA runs more empty buses than just about any other major bus company in America).
In the mean time, if we care about reducing congestion and pollution, UDOT should just open the HOV lane to general use.
Michael
2. Andrew Parker said:
If UDOT was trying to limit use of the carpool lane as a passing lane, as was their stated intention, would it not have been just as effective to simply enforce the carpool rule? I can only assume that the $90 fine for crossing the double white line is to punish carpool users for crowding the new South Valley Toll Express Lane.