Bay Bridge Proposal Ups HOV Lane to 5 Passengers Min.

Thanks to Mr. Roadshow for sharing the news about big changes that might occur on the Bay Bridge which would require 5 passengers or more to utilize the carpool lane.

A proposed bill in the California legislature, AB-455, aims to create the Bay Bridge Fast Forward Program to improve bus and very high occupancy vehicle speed and travel time reliability along the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge corridor in a manner that maximizes the number of people that can cross the bridge during congested periods.

The bill suggests a pilot program to designate a lane on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge exclusively for use by buses and very high occupancy vehicles during congested periods. In the legislation, “very high occupancy vehicles” would be a vehicle carrying five or more people, including the driver.

Their goal would to prioritize mass transit across the bridge, ideally by incentivizing drivers to leave their cars at home and take busses in order decrease their commute.

If you want the full details, read the full bill text, or check out Gary Richards aka Mr. Roadshow’s quick summation in the East Bay Times.