Design and Operations
HOV lanes may be a single traffic lane within the main roadway with distinctive markings, or alternatively as a separate roadways with one of more traffic lanes either parallel to the general lanes or alternatively grade-separated, above or below, the general lanes. Interstate 110 (California) has four HOV lanes on an upper deck.
HOV bypass lanes to allow carpool traffic to bypass areas of regular congestion in many places and a HOV lane may operate as a reversible lane, working in the direction of the dominant traffic flow in both the morning and the afternoon. All lanes of a 10 miles (16 km) section of the Interstate 66 in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. are treated as a HOV during the rush hour in the primary direction of flow.
The traffic speed differential between HOV and general purpose lanes creates a potentially dangerous situation if the HOV lanes are not separated by a barrier. A Texas Transportation Institute study found that HOV lanes lacking barrier separations caused a 50% increase in injury crashes.
Read more about this topic: High-occupancy Vehicle Lane
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