California Leaders Pollute California

Mr. Gary Richards AKA Mr. Roadshow of the San Jose Mercury News recently reported that the new southbound 680 express lanes have added on average a minute to the commute time. The study cited was done by the Alameda County Transportation Agency.

What that means is the results of the new lanes are an absolute and total failure contributing MORE pollution from idling vehicles than before. I would also like to know just how bad the spikes are and how badly the statistics show the real story every day.

ALSO, on southbound 680 AFTER the express lanes end during the evening rush hour, traffic slows down while there is a very large median area next to the center divider that could easily accommodate another lane. Why it hasn’t been made into a useful lane is beyond me.

Finally northbound 680 during the late afternoon and evening looks horrible as well, observed during late afternoon drives southbound.

Why California continues to mandate harmful and/or useless fuel additives, lower octane rating for premium gas, draconian restrictions for vehicle modification despite extra clean burning engines while cramming as much traffic as possible into as few lanes as possible is absolutely stupid beyond all measure and environmentally criminal. Surely there are representatives trying to stop this?

I strongly urge you to contact your government representatives and demand cleaner air and less fuel consumption by banning carpool and express lanes with use requirements.

Mr. Roadshow article: http://www.mercurynews.com/mr-roadshow/ci_17438165?nclick_check=1

Find and contact your state representative: http://www.assembly.ca.gov/defaulttext.asp

Previous article urging a ban on carpool lanes from 3/2009: http://www.examiner.com/autos-in-san-jose/ban-carpool-lanes