What's the best route for a better HOV lane?

Now that the plug has been pulled on the federal Clean Pass program, there needs to be a smart and achievable plan for the Long Island Expressway’s High Occupancy Vehicle lane which was the first suburban one in New York when it debuted in 1994.

Back in 2022, the editorial board urged state and local officials to plan before the program expired. They didn’t. Commuters are now left with a partisan blame game instead of solutions as they watch a much emptier HOV lane while idling on the world’s largest parking lot.

Will employers offer sweet incentives like free or priority parking to entire more people to carpool? Or increase the amount of gross income pretax an employee can claim for commuting expenses? Should the state can consider making the HOV lane an express toll lane like Maryland and Florida?

Since the beginning of the federal Clean Pass program, adopted by the state in 2006, the expiration was set for 2025. State officials blaming the Trump administration for ending the program is incorrect and misguided. The reality is Long Island’s population is growing modestly but the number of cars on our roads is increasing exponentially. According to a February report by Drive Electric Long Island, there are about 2.3 million cars — electric, gas and hybrids — for 2.9 million Long Islanders. There’s simply too much traffic, and too few carpooling or using mass transit.

CARPOOLS WORK ELSEWHERE

So, what’s the solution?

Like any convoluted problem, there isn’t a quick and easy fix. There are studies and data that support the efficacy of HOV lanes and the Clean Pass program, and ample research that debunks the usefulness of designated lanes for multiple passenger cars and electric and hybrid vehicles during peak rush hours. The paradox is that if the HOV lane of the LIE is effective, it draws motorists from overcrowded thoroughfares thereby increasing traffic on the LIE. The HOV lane stretches about 40 miles from the Queens County line in Nassau to Medford in Suffolk.

The end goal is to reduce the total number of vehicles, hence the need for improved and expanded mass transit and carpooling. Education about the availability and benefits of taking the train to work or jumping in the car with co-workers every morning must be expanded.

Carpooling may seem like a concept from an ’80s sitcom, but it works — just not that much on Long Island. At best, about 12% of Long Island drivers carpooled, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. That figure has dipped to as low as 9% since the pandemic, when people were understandably hesitant to share close breathing space for extended periods of time. And more often than not, people in a vehicle are children or family members already going to the same location, so the purpose of carpooling — to reduce the total number of vehicles on the road — isn’t achieved.

Long Islanders remain loath to give up their driving freedom, for good reasons. Rosemary Mascali, the author of the Drive Electric Long Island report, told the editorial board that even an incremental change in carpooling on Long Island would ease traffic congestion and improve air quality.

“Will it go to 50%? Never. But if it would move up to 12%, that could make a difference,” Mascali said. “It’s hard to get people to carpool on Long Island.”

What has helped ease traffic more than carpooling is telecommuting. In Nassau, 13.8% of employees work from home while 10.37% of Suffolk residents work from home, according to census data. If more workers take the information highway to work, fewer cars are needed during rush hours.

DROPPING HOV AN ILLUSION

Electric vehicles are better for the planet than combustion vehicles. The end of federal tax credits for EV buyers will likely reduce the total number of vehicles bought. However, the number of EVs on Long Island has steadily increased up to 71,171 as of 2024, and with it, an increase in the number of public and private charging stations.

An argument can be made that some people bought EVs only for the tax credits and ability to use the HOV lane, and with those two incentives gone, fewer EVs will be bought. Yet there are plenty of environmentally conscious Long Islanders who will continue to buy EVs to reduce emissions and save on gas.

There is at least one bill in the Assembly seeking to create a New York version of the federal Clean Pass program that complies with federal regulations so as not to jeopardize federal funding.

Traffic congestion costs money and time and increases pollution. Mostly it’s just maddening to drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Opening the HOV lane as a fourth lane with no restrictions, as gratifying as that may sound, likely won’t provide a long-term solution. Research suggests after a while, the fourth lane would become as clogged as the other three since more motorists would flock to the LIE.

The state must redouble its efforts to educate commuters, especially younger ones, about the benefits of public transportation and carpooling. There could be a large percentage of commuters open to changing their habits.

State and transportation industry leaders have to make the future of the LIE’s HOV lane a priority and not let it rest idly.