Closing off half the highway

Thank you for pointing out what is obvious to all who live, work and drive in Las Vegas: The HOV lanes on area highways are a colossal waste of money if they are restricted the way the Nevada Department of Transportation wants to restrict them (Tuesday editorial).

This is not a city in which people go to work at the same time, in the same area or from the same area. In places that have a large downtown business district where people go to work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., carpooling with your neighbors and using HOV lanes can alleviate traffic jams and lower pollution levels. That is certainly not the case here.

Even casino workers heading to the Strip work three different shifts. Our residential areas are too spread out. Just ask your co-workers where they live and commute from and try to find someone to drive in with … not easy. Especially when they are also committed to dropping off their kids at school and are out of school bus range.

As the editorial stated, NDOT needs to alleviate traffic congestion by making the HOV lanes available to all drivers at all times.