TEMPORARY CAR POOL LANE IN THE EL MONTE BUSWAY

Transportation planners had a unique opportunity to study the operation of a car pool lane during the recent bus strike in Los Angeles. Drivers and mechanics for the Southern California Rapid Transit District (SCRTD) went off the job on August 12, 1974 in a strike that lasted ten weeks. The impact of the strike on the travelling public was most pronounced on the San Bernardino Freeway, where the added numbers of automobiles, primarily from passengers of the El Monte Busway, resulted in additional travel delays of 10 to 15 minutes. To relieve congestion, the Busway lanes were opened for carpools of three or more persons beginning with the second week of the strike. Some of the important observations and conclusions from the study of the car pool lane follow: the bus strike caused 10 to 15 minutes additional delay in the morning (Westbound) and 5 minutes in the evening (Eastbound); carpools of 3 or more persons were allowed to use the Busway lanes if they obtained and displayed a permit - 1,620 permits were issued; opening of the busway lanes to car pools caused an improvement of about 6 minutes travel time on the regular freeway lanes in the morning, but none in the afternoon; with the heavier traffic in Autumn, car pools using the special lane were able to save up to 20-30 minutes one-way; a level of usage of 700 car pools (about 2,300 persons) per peak period was attained; an average of 33 or 5.7% of those using the lane were violators; less than one-fourth of bus commuters regularly used the exclusive lanes during the strike and almost one-half drove alone; at the time of the survey almost one-half of the car pool lane users had been in car pools before the strike; busway signing and striping was adequate for its safe and efficient operation; only one accident was recorded by the California Highway patrol on the exclusive lanes during peak period operation.

• Corporate Authors:

  California Department of Transportation

  1120 N Street
  Sacramento, CA  United States  95814
• Authors:
  • GALLAGHER, M P
• Publication Date: 1975-2

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; Tables;
• Pagination: 43 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Busways; Carpools; Freeways; Strikes; Traffic congestion; Traffic delays; Transportation planning; Travel; Travel time
• Old TRIS Terms: Car lanes; Freeway usage
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00096322
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 15 1981 12:00AM