Halfway through a pilot project to let drivers buy their way into car-pool lanes on state Route 167, the experiment isn’t catching on as fast as state officials hoped.
More than 2,000 solo drivers are paying the tolls each day, less than half the projected ultimate use.Here’s the story from the News Tribune.
That idea is great. It relies on market forces to make it work when it has to. People who want to drive alone can still have better service, they just have to pay more for it. That is a good idea. When it is worth it to them to save time, they will pay for it. Obviously, those who choose to car pool don't have to pay anything, which is a good policy too.
This article jogged my memory about something one of the gentleman who conducted the Complete Streets Workshop last week said. He said that when he used to live in D.C. he would stand at the bus stop at the end of the bridge that goes into the city center. Pretty much every day someone in a single-occupant car would stop and offer him a ride so they could go across the bridge in the carpool lane and avoid the toll. He said he'd leave his old Honda at home and get dropped off at work in a BMW, Lexus or other luxury car almost every day.