A TEMPORARY CARPOOL LANE

Carpool use of an exclusive bus lane during a 10-week strike at the Southern California Rapid Transit District, provided the opportunity to study the effect on traffic of carpool use of the lane, and to compare the fuel efficiency between carpool and bus operation on the lane. Comparison of travel times on the special lane with travel times on the mainline freeway showed that carpools were saving up to 20 to 30 minutes one way. The busway lane enabled carpools to bypass several bottleneck locations and considerable congestion. Opening the busway to carpools caused an improvement in travel time of about six minutes in the regular freeway lanes. Using a figure of 5 miles per gallon and an average of 34 passengers, a fuel efficiency of 85 passenger miles per gallon was computed for buses. Using an average fuel economy of 13 miles per gallon and average occupancy of 3.3, the fuel efficiency of carpools is 44 passenger miles per gallon.

• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Traffic Engineers

  2029 K Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20006
• Authors:
  • GALLAGHER, M P
• Publication Date: 1975-11

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos;
• Pagination: p. 36-38
• Serial:
  • Traffic Engineering
  • Volume: 45
  • Issue Number: 11
  • Publisher: Institute of Traffic Engineers

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transportation; Busways; Carpools; Freeways; Fuel consumption; Passenger miles; Traffic congestion; Travel time; Vehicle occupancy
• Uncontrolled Terms: Temporary
• Subject Areas: Energy; Highways; Motor Carriers; Operations and Traffic Management; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00129371
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 10 1981 12:00AM