A recent plan in California to allow solo drivers to use the carpool lanes for a fee has made we wonder; what are carpool lanes really for? The name would imply they are designed to get people out of individual cars in order to lower congestion and pollution. But as politicians increasingly get their hands into the use of these lanes, they are taking them places they were never intended to go.

The carpool lane has always been a flawed concept. The rule allowing children, even infants, to count as the second occupant has always seemed a bit odd. How is a parent driving their child around any more helpful to society than a a person with no children driving around? Do we really think the children are going to take their own cars if they aren’t allowed access? It seems to me that we should at minimum restrict the lane to cars with 2 or more driving age people.

Now, a recently enacted California law allows the owners of certain hybrids to apply for a permit to legally drive solo in the carpool lane. While this does promote environmentally friendly cars, it also favors higher income individual and does nothing to improve congestion (except removing these cars from the other lanes). Since carpool lanes, like all other public roads, were paid for by everyone, they should not favor one model car over another – especially a more expensive car.

I suppose we shouldn’t be too surprised that the government’s next step is to allow people to “buy” their way into these lanes. Why use them to promote any sort of agenda at all when you can use them to raise revenue? Sure, they will still be free to carpoolers and hybrid drivers, but now they’ll be sharing the road with that new V22 Hummer. What is this saying about the purpose of these lanes?

With all the new uses for these lanes, maybe it is time to ask if they should exist at all. I suppose with more and more cars being added to these lanes with all the different programs, these lanes may go away on their own.