Share-the-Ride Day Speeds Rush-Hour Traffic by 7 M.P.H.--Which Is Better Than It Sounds

Motorists on some of the Los Angeles area’s most crowded freeways zipped to work at up to 7 m.p.h. faster on Thursday as an estimated 43,000 commuters pledged not to ride solo as part of the state’s “Keep California Moving Day,” organizers said.

Although the top average speed in rush-hour traffic between 7:30 and 9 a.m. reached only 38 m.p.h. (that was on the southbound Harbor Freeway), the increase was seen as significant because participants represented “barely a dent” among the Southland’s commuters, said Michelle Perrault, chairwoman of the weeklong car-pooling campaign.

Commutes were slowest on the westbound Pomona Freeway, where the increase in average speed was 4 m.p.h. and drivers crept along at an average 13 to 18 m.p.h., according to Steve Parks, spokesman for Commuter Computer, a ride-sharing group that helped promote the campaign.

State transportation officials determined the increases by recording Thursday’s speeds and comparing averages against existing figures.

Perrault said the campaign was designed to showcase commuting alternatives, such as car pooling once a week and encouraging employers to reduce employee driving times by adopting a four-day workweek.

Just after the morning rush hour ended, a truck dropped a load of caustic concrete mix on the Pomona Freeway near Hacienda Boulevard, blocking traffic until about 2:40 p.m., the California Highway Patrol reported.

While traffic was backed up, a 28-year-old San Diego man, Gregory Michael Smith, tried to speed through roadblocks and crashed into a guardrail. Smith was arrested on charges of reckless driving, car theft and other offenses.