Metro to bump up carpool lane rules to 3+ during peak on...

Morning carpools along Interstate 45 and evening commuters along Interstate 69 may need to add a friend if they want to stay in the HOT lanes.

Citing heavy use and slower speeds in the lanes, Metropolitan Transit Authority is considering rule changes for the high occupancy lanes that would require vehicles to have three or more passengers during peak commuting periods. That is up from a minimum of two passengers.

The change would apply to motorists from 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. along I-45 north and south of downtown and from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Interstate 69 southwest of the central business district.

No timeline has been set for the change, which still must be approved by the agency’s board, though officials are working on exactly when and how to make the changes.

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“We do think we need to move forward with raising the occupancy level,” Metro CEO Tom Lambert said.

Metro began operating high occupancy vehicle lanes along I-45, I-69 and U.S. 290 in 1984, after they were built with money dedicated to congestion relief and transit. Metro won agreement from federal officials to open them solo paying drivers, thus making them high occupancy toll lanes, in 2012. Carpoolers still use them for free.

The agreement allows for those toll-paying drivers only during periods when average monthly speeds in the lanes remain above 45 mph.

“The idea is to encourage folks to carpool,” said Metro board member Sanjay Ramabhadran.

Metro also can adjust rules for carpools to keep the lanes flowing at or above the proscribed speed, meaning officials have to balance the desire to attract motorists to use the lanes, but not so many drivers that they start to clog and slow down traffic.

Citing high use, officials in 1999 changed the HOT occupancy rules on U.S. 290 to require three people in each vehicle.

For September and October, all the lanes on I-45 and I-69 averaged 45 mph in the morning and evening, but just barely. During the 41 days over the two months that the lanes were open — the HOT lanes are closed weekends and holidays — the lanes north of downtown Houston averaged less than 45 mph on 23 of the days during the morning commute, according to figures compiled by Metro. Segments along I-45 south of downtown and I-69 southwest of the central business district fared better, but still had 13 and 10 days, respectively, below the threshold.

That also slows buses down, at a time when Metro is trying to lure more people to commuter routes to relieve congestion.

“What customers are looking for is reliability,” Lambert said.

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What buses and carpools are getting is reliably-slow speeds along certain segments of the HOT lanes, particularly north of downtown. While speeds averaged 55 mph or greater on I-45 HOT lanes between FM 1960 and Aldine Bender and from Crosstimbers to Quitman, the segment between them, from Aldine Bender to Crosstimbers, averaged 36 mph.

Drivers in the carpool and general use lanes know that is the trouble spot, said David Miller, who uses the carpool lanes when his son commutes with him on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Miller blamed some of the confusion on the intersection with North Shepherd — and, of course, his fellow drivers.

“No one knows what they are doing, or they merge over at the last minute (for their exit) and everyone else has to slam on the brakes,” he said.

Drivers, and Metro officials, also note some solo motorists use the lanes illegally during times when toll payers are prohibited or claim to be a carpool when no one else is in the car.

Because of tight confines between the concrete walls, enforcement of the lanes can be tricky, but Metro does target scofflaws throughout the year. During a two-week blitz in October, 497 drivers received citations from Metro police for violating HOT lane rules and another 64 were given verbal warnings.

The enforcement, however, did little in terms of speeding up traffic in the lanes, based on Metro’s analysis. Comparing the week before and week after enforcement, there hardly was any change in average speeds during the afternoon commute.

However Metro proceeds with making the rule change, it will do so slowly, officials said.

“We might be able to change the dynamic message signs in a week, but it will take more time to get people used to this,” Ramabhadran said.

Changes would be preceded by advisories on toll lane signs and along freeways using the changeable message signs managed by Houston TranStar.

“We’re not going to do this overnight,” Lambert said.

dug.begley@chron.com

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