Dear Dr. Gridlock:
The end of life as we know it. . . . Okay, that may be a bit extreme, but the abuse of the eastbound Dulles Toll Road HOV lane and the lack of law enforcement have doubled my commute time, as I'm sure is true for many others.
I'm not talking about one or two violators who pop in and out or general slowdowns caused by backups at the Capital Beltway. No, in the last couple of weeks, the morning HOV lane has been a carbon copy of the regular lanes: clogged and slow moving.
My wife and I ride together from Loudoun County to our offices in Arlington. Under normal conditions, we join the toll road at the Fairfax County Parkway for about a 10-minute drive to the road's end at Tysons Corner.
My average speed, according to my global positioning system, is usually about 50 mph. But for the last few weeks, this 10-minute leg has stretched to 30 minutes, and the average speed has dropped to the 20s and on one occasion into the teens. The cause is obvious: widespread violation encouraged by little to no enforcement of the HOV lane.
A few weeks ago, we would spot a single violator in the lane every couple of days. The last few days of March, we saw the number of singles in the HOV lane jump to about one in four.
On April 5, among the 10 or so cars ahead of me and the three or four behind, I counted only two carpoolers, including us. I was prevented from getting into the lane by a long stream of singles.
The abuse is hardly surprising to me, as I have not seen police enforcing the HOV restrictions for a good six weeks. I have noticed, however, that when traffic is light, they are always there to pass out speeding tickets.
It's bad enough that large commercial trucks are allowed to use the HOV lanes. Is there some way we can get the authorities out there to enforce the rules? Should we resort to vigilantism and set up home video cameras to record the offenders?
Jim Zahrt
