Solo drivers will soon be able to use HOV lanes
“Gridlock is costing our economy billions of dollars every year and robbing Ontario drivers of valuable time and quality of life,” said Ontario’s transportation minister
There are many good reasons to carpool. Gas in the GTA is 166.9 cents a litre, the environment would surely benefit from fewer vehicles on the road and just as importantly, you can get the good work tea from your colleagues if you offer them a ride home.
But, if you absolutely must drive on the highway solo, Ontario’s minister of transportation, Prabmeet Sarkaria, says you’ll soon be able to glide through HOV lanes during off-peak hours, even without other passengers in your vehicle.
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Though high-occupancy vehicle lanes are reserved for cars carrying numerous passengers, a forthcoming regulatory amendment will make “better use of existing highway infrastructure to help reduce gridlock and keep drivers moving on provincial highways,” said a release published by the government yesterday. (Buses, licensed taxis, green-plate vehicles, airport limousines, motorcycles and emergency vehicles are also permitted to to travel in HOV lanes.)
“Gridlock is costing our economy billions of dollars every year and robbing Ontario drivers of valuable time and quality of life,” said Sarkaria, in the statement. “By allowing single-occupant vehicles to use HOV lanes during off-peak hours, we would help keep drivers moving across the province, so they can spend less time in traffic and more time with their families and friends.”
What exactly those off-peak hours are will be revealed at a later date, following further analysis of traffic data. It’s likely the change will take effect later this year.
According to government data, single-occupant vehicles are the dominant mode of transportation in Ontario, making up 72 per cent of vehicles on provincial highways in 2022. No wonder we’re all stuck in traffic.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
