Bill to ease traffic on Los Angeles freeways and alleviate driver frustration advances

Legislation would create a pilot program to open carpool lanes during off-peak hours.

Assemblyman Gatto’s (D-Los Angeles) bill to ease traffic congestion on the Los Angeles freeway system, one of the nation’s most notoriously overcrowded systems, moved one step closer to becoming law today, passing the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee by a vote of 10-0. The bill, AB 405, addresses the infuriating late-night traffic jams, characteristic of the Los Angeles area, by permitting single-occupancy vehicles to access the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes during non-peak hours.
“Carpool lanes are supposed to provide an incentive for carpooling during peak travel hours, and be good for the environment,” explained Gatto. “I support these goals. But, when motorists are stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic at midnight while carpool lanes sit empty, those goals are not met.”
Although most HOV lanes in Northern California are operated on a weekday, peak-hour only basis, HOV lanes in Southern California are in effect twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Gatto’s measure would create a pilot program allowing access to HOV lanes during off-peak travel hours along stretches of the 134 freeway, the 210 freeway, and other freeways in Los Angeles County deemed appropriate by the Department of Transportation (Caltrans). By allowing access to underutilized lanes, and alleviating traffic in adjacent mixed-use lanes, AB 405 asks Caltrans to determine whether or not the policy of continuous restrictions is effective on all Southern California freeways.
“There is no reason for drivers to be stuck in traffic when a late-night accident or mysterious slowing clogs the rightmost freeway lanes, while the carpool lane sits empty,” said Gatto. “AB 405 is a cost-effective and common-sense way to ease unnecessary congestion and ensure that drivers can move efficiently during non-peak hours, while still promoting ridesharing and carpooling during the busiest travel hours.”
Assemblyman Gatto amended the bill to extend the portion of the 134 Freeway served by the pilot project, further east, to the 210 freeway in Pasadena. He continues to oversee an effort with state and local agencies to administratively address the underutilization of HOV lanes in the region.

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