Express lane data confirms violation concerns

“We are seeing an increase in the amount of people who are identifying themselves as HOV-3, so those are folks that are electing on their transponders that they are 3+,” Program Director Kim Comstock said during a recent TA board meeting. “We’re seeing an increase of 3.6% compared to last year.”

But the approach is mostly based on an honor system, which has cast doubt on the accuracy of the carpooling data among, given that nearly half of express lane trips are toll free.

California Highway Patrol has more recently had more availability to enforce express lane violations, according to the presentation, and out of the 971 enforcement contacts, about 72% involved a citation directly connected to the number of vehicle occupants.

The TA has been concerned about the accuracy for some time, but recent data from CHP data confirms the issue isn’t resolving on its own and may necessitate more investment in better monitoring and tracking capabilities.

“That would require next steps of video occupancy detection and other enforcement strategies that are tied directly to the toll system,” Comstock said.

While the TA has an ongoing contract with CHP related to enforcement, the HOV citation revenue issued by CHP goes directly to the state, not the county.

Transit advocates are also paying close attention to the congestion, pricing and enforcement data of the current express lanes, which opened about three years ago and stretches 22 miles on Highway 101 from the Santa Clara County line to Interstate 380. Starting around 2020, the San Mateo County Transportation Authority began conducting research on expanding the project north of the interstate, either by converting an existing lane into an express lane or constructing a brand-new one.

Many advocates have opposed the plan, especially a version that would widen the highway by constructing a new lane, citing a lack of data on whether the current express lanes have in fact reduced congestion, as the agency has touted less traffic and more carpooling and transit use as primary goals of the initiative.

According to the presentation, average daily trips on the express lanes increased 2% year over year, with the speed in express lanes averaging about 8 to 10 mph quicker than non-express lanes during peak hours.