EDITORIAL: Time to eliminate HOV lanes completely in Las Vegas

Nevada should just say no to HOV lanes.

The Nevada Department of Transportation is running a survey seeking feedback on Southern Nevada’s high-occupancy vehicle lanes. There are currently HOV lanes on various sections of Interstate 15 and Interstate 11. Thanks to the work of Lt. Gov. Stavros Anthony, the HOV restriction is now in place for only four hours a day. Available at dot.nv.gov/HOVstudy, the short questionnaire asks if commuters use the HOV lanes and if they think the lanes are beneficial.

“Does the availability of HOV lanes have a positive effect on your commute time, gas consumption or stress level?” one question reads.

For a select few, the answer to that question is yes. But for many drivers, HOV lanes are a source of frustration. Using their tax dollars, the government built miles of often empty freeway capacity that they can’t legally use throughout the day. The theory is that these lanes will encourage carpooling and that having fewer vehicles on the road will reduce traffic and emissions overall, even if the HOV lane carries fewer cars than a general-purpose lane.

But in practice, it hasn’t panned out. Compared with cities such as Los Angeles, traffic in Las Vegas isn’t so bad. The state transportation officials who insisted on carpool lanes — which have existed in some form or another in Southern Nevada for two decades — never compiled any evidence that such lanes encouraged ride-sharing or altered the behavior of motorists. On the contrary, before the 24/7 restrictions on HOV lanes were lifted last year in the Las Vegas area, a great many drivers making use of the lanes were solo motorists ignoring the law.

HOV lanes “aren’t changing people’s driving behaviors,” Mr. Anthony said in an interview. He believes the survey is “part of the process” that will lead to eliminating HOV lanes in Southern Nevada altogether. Because federal dollars were used in some road construction, there are hoops to jump through before the lanes are eliminated completely.

The survey should provide the Nevada Transportation Board of Directors with helpful “information to determine if we can eliminate HOV lanes,” Mr. Anthony said. He expects that meeting will happen next year.

Mr. Anthony has been working on this issue for years, dating back to his time on the Las Vegas City Council. He’s stuck with this issue because “I think I’m representing the public.” He believes, “The public doesn’t want these HOV lanes. They want them open.”

Let’s hope that is the end result. HOV lanes don’t serve their intended purpose in Southern Nevada. Let Nevada manage its own roads and eliminate them completely.