HOV lanes now open on QEW..what a joke

[yearoftherat]

http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/101573--hov-lanes-now-open-on-qew

The adeed lanes were suppose to decrease congestion on the QEW...yeah right. On the way to work I maybe saw half a dozen cars with a passenger using the lanes. When the traffic started to back up, there were more single person cars merging in to the HOV to try and by pass the slow traffic.
I see more single person cars on the QEW than those car pooling. They should have made the extra lane a regular lane instead of an HOV.

Your opinion?

[Iceman_F1]

http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/101573--hov-lanes-now-open-on-qew

The adeed lanes were suppose to decrease congestion on the QEW...yeah right. On the way to work I maybe saw half a dozen cars with a passenger using the lanes. When the traffic started to back up, there were more single person cars merging in to the HOV to try and by pass the slow traffic.
I see more single person cars on the QEW than those car pooling. They should have made the extra lane a regular lane instead of an HOV.

Your opinion?

I'm usually on the QEW early in the morning (~6am) and the traffic isn't usually that bad. But I agree, most people are single drivers which makes that lane useless. I've seen how it is on the 403 and it's the same there. Should have been a regular lane if they really cared about making traffic less. Now it's the same amount of lanes with the same amount of cars with maybe 1 or 2 using the lane.

The issue I have with these lanes is they aren't very safe for people who don't use pretty much the whole lane. In other words, if you get on and are only going a couple exits, it's useless even if you have multiple people. If you are going a decent distance but not to the end, you have to find time to merge back into what is likely to be slower traffic which, if you have anyone behind you, will slow them down and so on and so forth.

I get that they want to make it better for those who decide to car pool...but let's say it works and it gets more people to car pool, that takes some more cars of the road and doesn't that ease congestion a bit anyways? That or make that lane busier which would then bring it back to what traffic used to be...

Not worth it as a HOV lane...

[sp3GT]

I think it's going to be like this everywhere. I drive everyday down the 404 and whenever traffic starts to build up around Finch, single drivers just jump into the HOV Lane.

I've seen people getting caught but it doesn't happen very often during rush hour.

[yearoftherat]

I've been on the 404 and IIRC, traffic is not even close to what it is on the QEW during the so called rush hour(s).

[gotak]

Most of the government's attempts at making transport faster in the city is useless. Like street cars on sheppard the HOV lanes are a half assed feel good move that begs for a full blown solution.

The idea of HOV lane is to reduce the number of car from people car pooling. The problem is the way the city's built no one car pools because how many of us have coworker within reasonable driving distance from us who arrives and leave the same time as we do? Few people do. The problem is the traffic off the highway is heavy enough that to car pool means you lose more time than you'd being slow on the highway. It takes me almost as much time to get to work at hwy7 and leslie as my friend does. I live at yonge and finch and he lives all the way over by blackcreek. All because of local road traffic and lights.

For most major road ways they can solve the problem of congestion if the people who designs the roads have half a brain. The 404/DVP is a nightmare not because the road's really using up all it's capacity. The stupid 404 to 401 junction must be the work of a crazy engineer. Who thought it's a good idea to make 4 merge happen within 2km? If they redesign the 404 401 junction and ht 401 400 junction there would be a lot less congestion. Thing is it'll be expensive to do that work plus it burnish no politician's green credentials so we'll never see it happen.

[yearoftherat]

And I'm sure for the most part, the majority of people that designed these roads never take them to begin with and have no friggin clue.

[Iceman_F1]

And I'm sure for the most part, the majority of people that designed these roads never take them to begin with and have no friggin clue.

+1

[MistaChin]

And I'm sure for the most part, the majority of people that designed these roads never take them to begin with and have no friggin clue.

Hey, leave us alone!

[Rob23]

hov is designed to make ppl want to carpool, so there will be less cars on the highway. not necessarily for all cars with 2 or more ppl to take that lane. besides usually ppl in that lane are families and are traveling slowly, that no one wants to get stuck behind.
i agree that too many ppl cheat in that lane with no passengers, i call them "Me First" drivers.

[yearoftherat]

Rob23..I do agree with you in what the HOV lane is suppose to do. But like gotak says, carpooling is not an option due to where our coworkers live.

[Rob23]

Rob23..I do agree with you in what the HOV lane is suppose to do. But like gotak says, carpooling is not an option due to where our coworkers live.

i know im in the exact same position, im an electrical apprentice and i have to drive all over depending where the job is, and i need my car to carry like 100lbs in tools so i cant bus. pain in the ass.

[Slade]

I drive Brant St -> Burloak everyday, and the HOV lane would have solved a lot more if it were a regular lane. I usually avoid the QEW going home because it is a parking lot anyways. The north/south service roads move a lot friggin quicker.

I plan on taking the highway home, just to see what difference the lanes will actually make.

8 years of construction, to fix nothing :(, IMO

[Zoom Zoom Boy]

Don't even get me started on the stupidity of the HOV lanes in this city... Such a huge personal pet peeve.
They have done nothing but make congestion on the highway sections where they are applicable, much, much worse than before. They also increase aggressive/reckless driving because so many people get frustrated with the congestion and end up doing idiotic things.

[eguiyab]

I dont mind HOV if they are used fairly frequently. BUT the GO/HOV lane on the DVP is idiotic. I have only EVER seen 1 bus... and its not even a full length lane... its pretty half assed.
if it was a full lane, that was just for any vehicle i think it would actually help speed up the DVP a bit....

[gotak]

I dont mind HOV if they are used fairly frequently. BUT the GO/HOV lane on the DVP is idiotic. I have only EVER seen 1 bus... and its not even a full length lane... its pretty half assed.
if it was a full lane, that was just for any vehicle i think it would actually help speed up the DVP a bit....

It's also bloody scary how they merge when it ends. I can see there being a big big accident there at some point say someone dodge into it to avoid a collision but didn't see the bus coming. Pretty nasty road design.

[yearoftherat]

It's also bloody scary how they merge when it ends. I can see there being a big big accident there at some point say someone dodge into it to avoid a collision but didn't see the bus coming. Pretty nasty road design.

I agree, the new one on the DVP is just an accident waiting to happen.

[Sales 101]

I get to travel opposite direction in rush hour but with construction is has been such a pain stop n go due to narrow lanes, bends etc scared drivers I took dundas for the last year. Tonight guelph line to trafalger at 4pm took 8 min. in the regular lanes with no stopping.

[DumpInfo]

The whole HOV approach was good only in the sense of going green but realistically in Ontario we need to focus on more lanes. The QEW is stupid congested I hate going on that damn thing.

[yearoftherat]

The whole HOV approach was good only in the sense of going green but realistically in Ontario we need to focus on more lanes. The QEW is stupid congested I hate going on that damn thing.

I agree...the traffic in Oakville and Burlington on teh QEW is stoopid

[m_bisson]

The best thing to fix traffic problems has NOTHING to do with city planning or road construction. Drivers should be tested once a year and to stricter standards than what we have now. Half the problems would be gone.

[Iceman_F1]

I agree...the traffic in Oakville and Burlington on teh QEW is stoopid

I agree. It's gotten so bad that even on a weekend in the early morning it's sometimes pretty bad traffic.

[DumpInfo]

I agree. It's gotten so bad that even on a weekend in the early morning it's sometimes pretty bad traffic.

+1 I was just thinking the exact thing. You know it's time to expand the lanes when traffic is busy every weekend.

[MistaChin]

For the sake of argument, adding lanes really won't do anything at all. Adding lanes will increase capacity, yes, but this will only attract more people to use the roads. When that happens, what then? Add more lanes? Hell no.

One of the most important things that needs to be done is encourage transit ridership, hence transit city.

[m_bisson]

Toll routes would help. Single drivers pay a high toll, and each additional passenger cuts the toll in half.

[DumpInfo]

I disagree simply because in large cities such as Toronto there shouldn't be no 3 lane highway non-sense. We should have at least 6 lanes per direction. Highways are made to be driven on so lets enjoy it since we spend a fraction of our lives on it.

[MistaChin]

Toll routes would help. Single drivers pay a high toll, and each additional passenger cuts the toll in half.

+1. Toll routes definitely help alleviate some of the congestion while generating revenue.


I disagree simply because in large cities such as Toronto there shouldn't be no 3 lane highway non-sense. We should have at least 6 lanes per direction. Highways are made to be driven on....

I can only agree that highways were meant to be driven on. But I'll still stick to my recent argument. Adding lanes is not always the answer. Sometimes it's because of the cost/benefit ratio, sometimes politics, or sometimes it really isn't warranted. I'm speaking very generally here of course.

Although there are times when bad decisions have been made (Sheppard Subway line). Are the HOV lanes on the QEW a bad decision? It's too early to tell. Give it some time and you may see a drastic difference when people actually start carpooling.

[AS RomaMazda]

FTW,..This lane should be reserved for large trucks..

[yearoftherat]

FTW,..This lane should be reserved for large trucks..

Knowing how people drive in Ontario this will never happen.

[Mr. Scruples]

The best thing to fix traffic problems has NOTHING to do with city planning or road construction. Drivers should be tested once a year and to stricter standards than what we have now. Half the problems would be gone.

+1 Totally agree (although yearly testing is total overkill -- 5 years would be much more reasonable).

90% of the time I see slowdowns due to people merging or changing lanes to get to an exit, the problem would have been TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY eliminated if drivers would simply leave a proper amount of distance between themselves and the car in front, and stop being complete jackasses when someone is trying to move over.

Take the Lawrence exit off the NB DVP for example. That's ALWAYS slow, and the cars are ALWAYS packed up right on each other's bumpers. If people just left 1.5 car-lengths between them and the car ahead, all the traffic could just naturally zipper together there as people tried to move across to get off the DVP there. As it normally is though, I regularly see people at a dead stop signalling to get over and waiting for a gap (which NEVER comes) because they have no other choice thanks to the jackasses all around them not having the good sense to let them through.

Proper driver training should be 100% mandatory. That and regular testing would go a long way toward easing up a lot of the problems out there.

[Iceman_F1]

+1 Totally agree (although yearly testing is total overkill -- 5 years would be much more reasonable).

90% of the time I see slowdowns due to people merging or changing lanes to get to an exit, the problem would have been TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY eliminated if drivers would simply leave a proper amount of distance between themselves and the car in front, and stop being complete jackasses when someone is trying to move over.

Take the Lawrence exit off the NB DVP for example. That's ALWAYS slow, and the cars are ALWAYS packed up right on each other's bumpers. If people just left 1.5 car-lengths between them and the car ahead, all the traffic could just naturally zipper together there as people tried to move across to get off the DVP there. As it normally is though, I regularly see people at a dead stop signalling to get over and waiting for a gap (which NEVER comes) because they have no other choice thanks to the jackasses all around them not having the good sense to let them through.

Proper driver training should be 100% mandatory. That and regular testing would go a long way toward easing up a lot of the problems out there.

I kinda agree...however there are also those people that despite people leaving space, stay to the left and wait until the last min to try to make their exit and then cutting a bunch of people off to make it. It would help if people either knew their route and planned ahead by moving over early. Or not going too far away from the exit lane if they are not sure.

[Mr. Scruples]

I kinda agree...however there are also those people that despite people leaving space, stay to the left and wait until the last min to try to make their exit and then cutting a bunch of people off to make it. It would help if people either knew their route and planned ahead by moving over early. Or not going too far away from the exit lane if they are not sure.

Oh, absolutely. I hate it when people do that as well, and always do my best to get into the correct lane as early as I can for that very reason.

That said, I also think some of that can be blamed on the signage on our highways. There are lots of places where they really don't give you much of a heads-up as to where you need to be for a particular exit/route. Once you're familiar, it gets easier, but if you're new to a road it can be really tricky to figure out at times.

But yeah -- get into the correct lanes early, people!! :)