HOV LANES: AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME...AND GONE

For over 2 decades, transportation officials believed that high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes would lure Americans away from their solo commuting habits and lead to less highway congestion, fewer travel delays, and better air quality. However, current evidence indicates that HOV lanes have not only not changed Americans' driving habits, but that participation in carpooling has been slowly eroding. This commentary describes current trends in carpooling/ridesharing, and discusses some possible reasons for the recent decline in support of these practices.