COMPUTER ANALYSIS OF ORIGIN-DESTINATION SURVEY DATA IN THE STATE ROUTE 55 TRAVEL CORRIDOR, BEFORE AND AFTER THE OPENING OF CARPOOL LANES.

The State Route (SR) 55 carpool lanes in Orange County were opened for high occupancy vehicles (HOV) usage in November, 1985. Since SR 55 was the first travel corridor in Orange County within which carpool lanes were implemented, a travel analysis was conducted to answer questions about changes in travel patterns and characteristics. The purpose of the study was to obtain better information on the origin-destination travel patterns and travel characteristics of this travel corridor based upon a comparison of the results of two travel surveys conducted before and after the opening of carpool lanes. This paper focuses on the portion of the survey output related to trip origins and destinations on the SR 55 and attempts to answer questions on whether the vehicle trips in the carpool lanes are longer distance than the ones in the general traffic lanes, what is the travel time savings on the carpool lanes and whether the carpool lanes are effective in terms of motivating commuters to shift from driving alone to ridesharing.