LETTER: More nonsense on Las Vegas HOV lanes
Unthinking Nevada officials agreed to carpool-only lanes in order to get federal funding for Project Neon (Saturday Review-Journal). Anyone familiar with the Las Vegas Valley would know HOV lanes are incompatible with our lifestyles, geography and shift work. Yet officials with the Nevada Department of Transportation foolishly suggest that the restricted lanes encourage creativity in finding ways to carpool. What nonsense.
Gov. Steve Sisolak shows an amazing lack of backbone. He immediately capitulated to NDOT’s position that the lanes are tied to federal funding. Does he have no influence anywhere?
Equally disheartening was the city of Las Vegas’ request to limit enforcement to peak hours, Monday through Friday. Predictably, that was denied. But why settle for less than complete abolition of HOV lanes? After all, Project Neon was financed by tax dollars. Yes, we the people paid for those lanes.
The genesis of HOV lanes is in response to fears of climate change. We must do something, anything, to combat greenhouse gas emissions. The unsurprising result is near-empty carpool lanes for the chosen few and gridlock for the masses.
Gov. Sisolak suggests we wait patiently for the next year or two while data is compiled to assess the efficiency of HOV lanes. Of course, as long as he is governor, he will not be the sole occupant in any vehicle.
