More Car Pools Using Commuter Lanes, State Says

The first year of the controversial Costa Mesa Freeway commuter lanes was marked by increased car-pooling, better traffic flow and more accidents, a state analysis said Wednesday.

Use of the car-pool lanes on Route 55 is now so high that the freeway ranks second in the Greater Los Angeles area in number of riders per vehicle, said the state Department of Transportation analysis. It was released by the Orange County Transportation Commission.

The Caltrans report also said that travel time is faster on the freeway since the commuter lanes were launched a year ago. The number of accidents, however, has increased, and there were 200 collisions in the commuter lanes during the past year--second only to those on the fast lane, which had 439 accidents.

The report drew immediate fire from Joe Catron of Yorba Linda, chairman of an organization opposed to the experimental lanes. Calling the commuter lanes underutilized and dangerous, Catron said he believes the concept has been a failure and should be ended. “Absolutely, we dispute the success (of the commuter lanes),” Catron said.

A more upbeat assessment came from Stan Oftelie, executive director of the Orange County Transportation Commission. Oftelie compared the Caltrans report to Los Angeles Rams tailback Eric Dickerson. “Like Eric Dickerson, there’s mixed statistics, some good and some bad, but also like Dickerson, overall it’s been a good year,” said Oftelie.

The Caltrans report is being submitted to the 27-member Route 55 Advisory Committee, said Oftelie.

“The advisory committee will meet on Jan. 7, and the members will make a recommendation (about whether to continue the commuter lane) to the Orange County Transportation Commission,” said Oftelie. “The commission will vote on this at its Jan. 26 meeting.”

The commuter lanes on the Costa Mesa Freeway were opened on Nov. 18, 1985. The lanes, one in each direction on a 12-mile stretch between the 91 and 405 freeways, are restricted to buses and to cars containing two or more persons.

Traffic Statistics

Caltrans analyzed a variety of traffic statistics between Nov. 18, 1985, and Nov. 18, 1986, in making its report on the commuter lanes experiment.

Among the findings in the report:

- “Growth is occurring” in use of the commuter lanes. “The average daily traffic in the commuter lane has increased 50% in six months and 60% in nine months. . . . “

- “The commuter lane is carrying . . . 34% more people than a mixed-flow lane, and it is doing that in 33% fewer vehicles than the mixed-flow lane would have.”

- Car pooling is increasing, and (autos) now average 1.26 riders per car in the commuter lanes. This makes the Costa Mesa Freeway second only to the El Monte Busway of the San Bernardino Freeway in number of riders per vehicle in the Greater Los Angeles area.

- “Travel times for all users of the Costa Mesa Freeway have been reduced since the commuter lane has been operating.”

- “. . . Motorcycle use of the freeway has increased . . . however, along with increased motorcycle usage, it initially appears that there are increased motorcycle accidents.”

Auto accidents also are increasing in the commuter lanes, the report said, but it said about 45% of the accidents originated in the mixed-flow lanes. “These occurred as drivers either swerved or skidded into the commuter lane, where the point of impact occurred,” said the report.

Caltrans said that during the year, there were 1,416 accidents on the freeway. A total of 200 of the accidents were in the commuter lanes; 439 in the No. 1 fast lane; 185 in the No. 2 lane; 179 in No. 3; 87 in No. 4; 177 on ramps, connectors or shoulders, and 149 accidents that were “unspecified.”

Caltrans said accidents on the freeway actually had been going up since 1984, a year before the commuter lanes opened. “Some indication to a leveling of the (higher accident) trend is now becoming apparent at the end of the first year of commuter-lane operation,” the report said.

Asserts Dangers

Car-pool lane foe Catron asserted that the number of accidents on the freeway is going up because of “dangerous” conditions stemming from the commuter lanes.

“The No. 1 lane is next to the commuter lane, and the No. 1 lane is supposed to be the fast lane,” Catron said. “Now, though, the No. 1 lane is the slow lane because so many drivers are slowing down to get into or out of the commuter lane. As a result, there are many more rear-end accidents in the No. 1 lane.”

Catron also said he thinks the Caltrans report doesn’t accurately reflect the percentage of “illegal users” of the commuter lanes. Catron said that about 30% of the users of the commuter lane only have one person in the vehicles.

Caltrans, however, said in its report that only 10.56% of the southbound vehicles in the commute lanes are violating the vehicle occupancy rules, and 6.11% northbound.

The Caltrans report said that outside of Drivers for Highway Safety, there is little public opposition to the new commuter lanes. “Very few phone calls relative to commuter lane use are being received,” said the report. “Most have to do with enforcement issues. There is no widespread opposition to the commuter lane. It is receiving very little adverse public attention; neither is it receiving widespread acclaim.”