Editing High-occupancy vehicle lane (section)

===United States===
[[File:VA 07 2012 I395 HOV 3854.JPG|thumb|The first HOV freeway, which opened in 1969, was on [[Shirley Highway]] in [[Northern Virginia]]; as of 2012, the [[Interstate 95 in Virginia|I-95]]/[[Interstate 395 (District of Columbia–Virginia)|I-395]] HOV facility operates as a two-lane barrier-separated [[reversible lane|reversible]] HOV 3+ facility (center lanes) with access through elevated on- and off-ramps.]] 
[[File:Interstate 405 Carpool Lane Sign.jpg|thumb|For 50 years, from 1970 to 2020, the [[California Department of Transportation]] preferred to use the term "carpool", as seen on [[Interstate 405 in California|I-405]] in [[Los Angeles]], as opposed to "HOV".]]
The introduction of HOV lanes in the United States progressed slowly during the 1970s and early 1980s. Major growth occurred from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s.<ref name=1stHOVs/> The first freeway HOV lane in the United States was implemented in the [[Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway]] in [[Northern Virginia]], between Washington, DC, and the [[Capital Beltway]], and was opened in 1969 as a [[bus lane|bus-only lane]].<ref name=1stHOVs/><ref name=FHWA2>{{cite web|url=https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/fhwahop09029/sec2_operational.htm|title=Section 2: Operational Description of the Nation's HOV Lanes  |author= Federal Highway Administration|publisher=FHWA Tolling and Pricing Program|date=December 2008|access-date=2012-04-24|author-link=Federal Highway Administration }}</ref><ref name=Caltrans1>{{cite web|url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/systemops/hov/|title=Managed Lane |author=[[California Department of Transportation]] (Caltrans)|publisher=Caltrans|year=2007|access-date=2012-04-26}}</ref> The busway was opened in December 1973 to [[carpool]]s with four or more occupants, becoming the first instance in which buses and carpools officially shared a HOV lane over a considerable distance.<ref name=HistUS1>{{cite web|url=http://ntl.bts.gov/DOCS/retk.html|title=Re-Thinking HOV – High Occupancy Vehicle Facilities and the Public Interest|author1=Christopher K. Leman|author2=Preston L. Schiller|author3=Kristin Pauly|publisher=[[National Transportation Library]]|access-date=2012-04-30|archive-date=2010-12-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204025344/http://ntl.bts.gov/DOCS/retk.html|url-status=dead}} ''Research funded partly by the [[Chesapeake Bay Foundation]] and the [[Bullitt Foundation]], pp. 3–5.''</ref><ref name=HistUS2>{{cite web|url=http://ridesharechoices.scripts.mit.edu/home/histstats/|title=Selective History of Ridesharing – The 1970s Energy Crises|author=MIT "Real-Time" Rideshare Research|publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]|date=2009-01-24|access-date=2012-04-30}}</ref>

In 2005, the two lanes of this HOV 3+ facility carried during the morning peak hour (6:30 am to 9:30 am) a total of 31,700 people in 8,600 vehicles (3.7 persons/veh), while the three or four general-purpose lanes carried 23,500 people in 21,300 vehicles (1.1 persons/veh). Average travel time in the HOV facility was 29 minutes, and 64 minutes in the general traffic lanes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/972|title=HOV lanes clogged with hybrids-complicate toll plan|author=Peter Samuel|work=Toll Roads News|date=2005-01-12|access-date=2012-04-25|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912170357/http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/972|archive-date=2012-09-12}}</ref> As of 2012, the [[Interstate 95 in Virginia|I-95]]/I-395 HOV facility is {{Convert|30|mi|abbr=on}} long, extends from [[Washington, D.C.]], to [[Dumfries, Virginia]], and has two [[reversible lane|reversible]] lanes separated from the regular lanes by barriers, with access through elevated on- and off-ramps. Three or more people in a vehicle (HOV 3+) are required to travel on the facility during rush hours on weekdays.<ref name=VDOTHOV>{{cite web|url=http://www.virginiadot.org/travel/hov-novasched.asp|title=High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Systems|publisher =[[Virginia Department of Transportation]] (VDOT)|date=4 December 2017}}</ref>

The second freeway HOV facility, which opened in 1970, was the [[contraflow lane|contraflow]] [[bus lane]] on the [[Lincoln Tunnel Approach and Helix]] in [[Hudson County, New Jersey]].<ref name=1stHOVs>{{cite web |url=http://www.hovworld.com/page6/page6.htm |title=History of HOV Facilities |author=Katherine F. Turnbull |publisher=[[Federal Highway Administration]] (FHWA) |access-date=2012-04-26 |archive-date=2012-03-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314224451/http://www.hovworld.com/page6/page6.htm |url-status=dead }} Complete account published in Katherine F. Turnbull (1992),  "''HOV Project Case Studies: History and Institutional Arrangements''"</ref>  According to the [[Federal Highway Administration]] (FHWA), the [[Lincoln Tunnel XBL]] is the country's HOV facility with the highest number of peak hour persons among HOV facilities with utilization data available, with 23,500 persons in the morning peak,<ref name=FHWA2/> and 62,000 passengers during the four-hour morning peak.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apta.com/resources/reportsandpublications/Documents/APTABrochure_v28%20FINAL.pdf |title=Public Transportation: Moving America Forward |author=[[American Public Transit Association]] (APTA) |publisher=APTA |access-date=2012-04-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102221405/http://www.apta.com/resources/reportsandpublications/Documents/APTABrochure_v28%20FINAL.pdf |archive-date=2013-01-02 |url-status=dead }} ''See p. 6''</ref>

The first permanent HOV facility in [[California]] was the bypass lane at the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]] toll plaza, opened to the public in April 1970.<ref name=Caltrans1/> The [[El Monte Busway]] ([[Interstate 10 in California|I-10 / San Bernardino Freeway]]) in [[Los Angeles]] was initially only available for buses when it opened in 1973. Three-person carpools were allowed to use the bus lane for three months in 1974 due to a strike by bus operators, and then permanently at a 3+ HOV from 1976. It is one of the most efficient HOV facilities in North America<ref name=Texas2002>{{cite web|url=http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/13679.html|title=Executive Report. Effects of Changing HOV Lane occupancy requirements: El Monte Busway Case Study|author=Texas Transportation Institute|publisher=[[Federal Highway Administration]]|date=September 2002|access-date=2012-04-27|author-link=Texas Transportation Institute|archive-date=2017-06-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617121144/https://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/13679.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was converted into a [[high-occupancy toll lane]] operation in 2013 to allow low-occupancy vehicles to bid for excess capacity on the lane in the [[Metro ExpressLanes]] project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.net/projects/expresslanes/|title=Metro Express Lanes}}</ref>

Beginning in the 1970s, the [[Urban Mass Transportation Administration]] recognized the advantages of exclusive bus lanes and encouraged their funding. In the 1970s the FHWA began to allow state highway agencies to spend federal funds on HOV lanes.<ref name=HistUS1/> As a result of the [[1973 oil crisis|1973 Arab Oil Embargo]], interest in [[Carpool|ridesharing]] picked up, and states began experimenting with HOV lanes. In order to reduce [[crude oil]] consumption, the 1974 [[Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act]] mandated maximum speed limits of {{convert|55|mph|abbr=on}} on public highways and became the first instance when the U.S. federal government provided funding for ridesharing and states were allowed to spend their highway funds on rideshare demonstration projects. The 1978 Surface Transportation Assistance Act made funding for rideshare initiatives permanent.<ref name=HistUS2/>

Also during the early 1970s, ridesharing was recommended for the first time as a tool to mitigate air quality problems. The 1970 [[Clean Air Act Amendments]] established the [[National Ambient Air Quality Standards]] and gave the [[Environmental Protection Agency]] (EPA) substantial authority to regulate air quality attainment. A final control plan for the [[Los Angeles Basin]] was issued in 1973, and one of its main provisions was a two-phase conversion of {{convert|184|mi|abbr=on}} of freeway and arterial roadway lanes to bus/carpool lanes and the development of a regional computerized carpool matching system. However, it took until 1985 before any HOV project was constructed in [[Los Angeles County]], and by 1993 there were only {{convert|58|mi|abbr=on}} of HOV lanes countywide.<ref name=HistUS2/>

A significant policy shift took place in October 1990, when a memorandum from the FHWA administrator stated that "''FHWA strongly supports the objective of HOV preferential facilities and encourages the proper application of HOV technology.''" Regional administrators were directed to promote HOV lanes and related facilities.<ref name=HistUS1/> Also in the early 1990s, two laws reinforced the U.S. commitment to HOV lane construction. The [[Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990]] included HOV lanes as one of the transportation control measures that could be included in state implementation plans to attain federal air quality standards. The 1990 amendments also deny the administrator of the EPA the authority to block FHWA from funding 24-hour HOV lanes as part of the sanctions for a state's failure to comply with the Clean Air Act, if the secretary of transportation wishes to approve the FHWA funds.<ref name=HistUS1/>

On the other hand, the [[Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act]] (ISTEA) of 1991 encouraged the construction of HOV lanes, which were made eligible for Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds in regions not attaining federal air quality standards. CMAQ funds may be spent on new HOV lane construction, even if the HOV designation holds only at peak travel times or in the peak direction. ISTEA also provided that under the Interstate Maintenance Program, only HOV projects would receive the 90% federal matching ratio formerly available for the addition of general purpose lanes. ISTEA, in addition, permitted state authorities to define a high occupancy vehicle as having a minimum of two occupants (HOV 2+).<ref name=HistUS1/>

As of 2009, California was the state with the most HOV facilities in the country, with 88, followed by [[Minnesota]] with 83 facilities, [[Washington (state)|Washington]] with 41, [[Texas]] with 35, and [[Virginia]] with 21. By 2006, HOV lanes in California were operating at two-thirds of their capacity, and these HOV facilities carried on average 2,518 persons per hour during peak hours, substantially more people than the congested general-traffic lanes.<ref name=DefCAN/>[[File:HOT Capital Beltway Panorama 5.jpg|thumb|337x337px|left|The [[Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)|I-495 Capital Beltway]] in the [[Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area]]. The facility is located in the [[Central reservation|median]], has two HOV lanes in each direction with elevated on/off ramp access with a total of {{cvt|224|mi}} of lanes.]]

As of October 2016, the longest continuous HOV facility in the U.S. is on [[Interstate 15 in Utah|I-15]] in [[Utah]], extending approximately {{cvt|72|mi}} from [[Layton, Utah|Layton]] to [[Spanish Fork, Utah|Spanish Fork]] with a single HOV lane in each direction for a total of {{cvt|144|mi}} of HOV lanes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.udot.utah.gov/2016/10/udot-and-uhp-launch-express-lane-education-and-enforcement-blitz/|title=UDOT and UHP launch Express Lane education and enforcement blitz – Transportation Blog|website=blog.udot.utah.gov|language=en-US|access-date=2017-12-31|archive-date=2017-12-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227232726/http://blog.udot.utah.gov/2016/10/udot-and-uhp-launch-express-lane-education-and-enforcement-blitz/|url-status=dead}}</ref>  While the Utah facility is the longest, the I-495 Capital Beltway in the [[Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area|Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Area]] extends {{cvt|56|mi}} but has two HOV lanes in each direction for a total of {{cvt|224|mi}} of HOV lanes.<ref name="FHWA2" />

On October 24, 2023, [[Michigan]] opened its first-ever HOV lanes on a portion of [[Interstate 75 in Michigan|I-75]] in [[Oakland County, Michigan|Oakland County]] from South Boulevard in [[Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan|Bloomfield Township]] to 12 Mile Road in [[Madison Heights, Michigan|Madison Heights]] as part of a freeway modernization project. One lane in both directions is restricted to HOV use from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, while all other drivers regardless of the number of occupants in their vehicle can freely use the lanes outside of those hours.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.modernize75.com|title=I-75 Modernization Project}}</ref> 
<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.modernize75.com/HOV|title=Project Highlights - HOV Edition}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last = Braddock |first = Tiara |date = October 25, 2023 |title = Carpool lanes now open along I-75 in Oakland County; here's when they're active |url = https://www.wxyz.com/news/carpool-lanes-now-open-along-i-75-in-oakland-county-heres-when-theyre-active |access-date = October 25, 2023 |location = Southfield, Michigan |publisher = [[WXYZ-TV]] |language = en-US }}</ref>