Editing High-occupancy vehicle lane (section)

===Europe===
{{see also|Bus lane}}
As of 2012, there are a few HOV lanes in operation in Europe. The main reason for this is that, in general, European cities have better [[public transport]] services and fewer high-capacity multi-lane urban motorways than do the U.S. and Canada.{{Cn|date=July 2024}} However, at around 1.3 persons per vehicle, average car occupancy is relatively low in most European cities.<ref name=HOVUK>{{cite web|url=http://www.etcproceedings.org/paper/britain-s-first-high-occupancy-vehicle-lane-the-a647-leeds|title=Britain's first high occupancy vehicle lane – the A647, Leeds|vauthors=Quinn DJ, Gilson DR, Dixon MT|publisher=ETC Proceedings|year=1998|access-date=2012-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016173615/http://etcproceedings.org/paper/britain-s-first-high-occupancy-vehicle-lane-the-a647-leeds|archive-date=2012-10-16|url-status=dead}}</ref> The emphasis in Europe has been on providing bus lanes and on-street bus priority measures.<ref name=HOVEurope/>

The first HOV lane in Europe was opened in the [[Netherlands]] in October 1993 and operated until August 1994. Its facility was a {{Convert|7|km|abbr=on}} barrier-separated HOV 3+ on the [[A1 motorway (Netherlands)|A1]] near [[Amsterdam]]. The facility did not attract enough users to overcome public criticism and was converted to a reversible lane open to general traffic after the judge in a [[test case (law)|legal test case]] ruled that Dutch traffic law lacked the concept of a [[car pool]] and thus that the principle of equality was violated.<ref name="HOVEurope">{{cite web|url=http://www.mccormickrankin.com/pdf/UrbanTrans2006.pdf|title=High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes – Worldwide Lessons for European Practitioners|author=S. Schijns|publisher=McCormick Rankin Corp|year=2006|access-date=2012-04-25|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613133750/http://www.mccormickrankin.com/pdf/UrbanTrans2006.pdf|archive-date=2010-06-13}} ''See Section 3.1''</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statengeneraaldigitaal.nl/thema_carpoolstrook.html |title=Dutch parliamentary record on the carpooling lanes experiment (archived) |language=nl |publisher=Statengeneraaldigitaal.nl |access-date=2012-04-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724170748/http://www.statengeneraaldigitaal.nl/thema_carpoolstrook.html |archive-date=July 24, 2011 }}</ref>

[[Spain]] was the next European country to introduce HOV lanes ({{langx|es|Vehículos de Alta Ocupación, VAO}}), when median reversible Bus-VAO lanes were opened in [[Madrid]]'s [[A-6 motorway (Spain)|A-6]] in 1995. This facility is Europe's oldest HOV facility that is still in operation.<ref name="HOVEurope" />

The first HOV facility in the [[United Kingdom]] opened in [[Leeds]] in 1998. The facility was implemented on [[A647 road]] near Leeds as an experimental scheme, but it became permanent. The HOV facility is {{Convert|1.5|km|abbr=on}} long and operates as a HOV 2+ facility.<ref name="HOVUK" /><ref name="HOVEurope" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.konsult.leeds.ac.uk/private/level2/instruments/instrument029/l2_029c.htm|title=Experience in Europe: Leeds, UK|author=Institute for Transport Studies, [[University of Leeds]]|publisher=Konsult Leeds|access-date=2012-04-27|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222144319/http://www.konsult.leeds.ac.uk/private/level2/instruments/instrument029/l2_029c.htm|archive-date=2012-02-22}}</ref>

A {{convert|2.8|km|abbr=on}} HOV 3+ facility opened in [[Linz]], [[Austria]], in 1999.

The first HOV lane in [[Norway]] was implemented in May 2001 as an HOV 3+ on Elgeseter Street, an undivided four-lane [[arterial road]] in [[Trondheim]]. This facility was followed by HOV lanes in [[Oslo]] and [[Kristiansand]].<ref name="HOVEurope" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etcproceedings.org/paper/evaluation-of-hov-lanes-in-norway|title=Evaluation of Hov-lanes in Norway|author=T Haugen|publisher=ETC Proceedings|year=2004|access-date=2012-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017062256/http://etcproceedings.org/paper/evaluation-of-hov-lanes-in-norway|archive-date=2012-10-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>