Every day, many of us travel the highways and bi-ways trying to get where we’re going in the most efficient, safe, and cost-effective way. Unfortunately, our elected officials in British Columbia have decided that many of our tax dollars should be allocated to a tiny minority of the driving demographic. The most obvious way they’ve done this is by creating a special lane for drivers with either an expensive electric car, a passenger or for those riding a motorcycle. This is the HOV lane and it needs to be abolished!

The original intent of the creation of the HOV lane in BC was to encourage carpooling and to reduce the amount of vehicles on the road, thus reducing exhaust emission pollution from inefficient old vehicles and travel time of commuters. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened. However, exhaust emissions of newer vehicles have become insignificant, as evidenced by the shutting of AirCare facilities.

The fact is the effort to incentivize carpooling has failed. The HOV lane is not being used except by a tiny minority of drivers. The new allowance for electric cars and motorcyclists is just another attempt to try to fill the lane with a loud minority of squeaky wheels (pun intended). The vast majority of drivers do not qualify to use the lane they paid for. How ironic and ridiculous and a massive waste.

Accidents, stress, travel time, emissions and cost of travel could be greatly reduced due to the amount of traffic that could be shared with the current HOV lane. Here's how:

-Accidents would be reduced due to the easier flow of traffic, less dynamic speeds (slamming on brakes to avoid a crazy merge at every exit).

-Drivers and passengers would be less stressed.  Imagine merging at a reasonable speed in rush hour, zipper method, no horns honking, no birds flying, while everyone saves time and money, is driving safer and with less stress.

-A smoother flow of traffic will also reduce costs with accelerating and decelerating, reducing fuel consumption and brake wear, both of which are harmful to our environment and bank accounts.

All of this is achievable with an open-access HOV lane. Quality of life goes up for everyone - think about how much nicer an experience that would be.

With the elimination of AirCare in the GVRD, the government has admitted that vehicles on the road today are extremely efficient and emissions controls technologies have advanced so much that vehicle pollution is no longer a threat to our air quality. Now it’s time for the government to admit that HOV lanes are also a waste of resources and by abolishing the HOV lane we could reduce cost, time, stress and accidents while driving within the GVRD.

 Sign the petition to stake your claim in a more efficient, safe, and enjoyable drive on our highway!