[HOV Lanes] The aftermath

LePhillou

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So guys, now that they're gone, how is your commute?

Being a west-ender, the gardiner and lakeshore were as packed as ever this morning... took me a good 15m longer than usual.
 
Waze sent me to the 407, so I don't know if 401 was buggered for some other reason. DVP wasn't bad but for a couple left lane hogs. Middle lane was fastest for the most part.
I think left lane hogs are actually the biggest contributor to gridlock now. Stunned at the number of seniors out for a coffee cruise during rush periods lately.
 
100% - If police enforcement shifted from hiding behind trees to enforcing proper lane discipline and the speed limit increased, we could see a significant improvement in traffic flow... then I wake up and fall of the bed because I was dreaming
Waze sent me to the 407, so I don't know if 401 was buggered for some other reason. DVP wasn't bad but for a couple left lane hogs. Middle lane was fastest for the most part.
I think left lane hogs are actually the biggest contributor to gridlock now. Stunned at the number of seniors out for a coffee cruise during rush periods lately.
 
DVP southbound @ 7am - back to normal. Traffic moving freely. No more poor suckers stopped in the right two lanes. Northbound @4pm has been back to almost normal for last two weeks - we'll see what happens this afternoon. I'll probably be back to getting off at Don Mills and back-on at Lawrence (ramps!)
 
Its due to the second phase of Gardiner construction. basically they reduced each direction by 2 lanes from Jameson to Spadina!!!! Will last till Oct.
 
and when school starts its gonna be a nice $hitshow
 
100% - If police enforcement shifted from hiding behind trees to enforcing proper lane discipline and the speed limit increased, we could see a significant improvement in traffic flow... then I wake up and fall of the bed because I was dreaming

How can cops enforce lane disciple? Have you thought about everything like evidence of the offence (of being a left-lane bandit), and what will suffice in court to get a conviction by the JP? What's the charge for being a left-lane-bandit anyways?

If a cop is driving along in traffic looking for the left-lane bandits he probably won't find any right around him. He certainly won't find enough to justify the directed enforcement initiative you have in your dreams. Actually, since everyone typically slows down and starts to drive like grandmas around cops, the cop's presence will probably be doing more harm than good for traffic congestion & flow.

My guess is that any kind of stationary spot to set up and watch on a highway for left-lane-bandits would be both impractical for trying to them stop the vehicle, and/or also only be a small window into driving time of the motorist that it wouldn't be sufficient evidence in court.

I don't know. Maybe keep dreaming. :lmao:
 
100% - If police enforcement shifted from hiding behind trees to enforcing proper lane discipline and the speed limit increased, we could see a significant improvement in traffic flow... then I wake up and fall of the bed because I was dreaming

Not getting this comment. People slow down when the Police are around.

So guys, now that they're gone, how is your commute?

Being a west-ender, the gardiner and lakeshore were as packed as ever this morning... took me a good 15m longer than usual.

How's Lakeshore, and then cutting through the Ex, work when it's not on?

Just watch at that left turn, lots of people try and squeeze in to the head of the line, from the right.
 
How can cops enforce lane disciple? Have you thought about everything like evidence of the offence (of being a left-lane bandit), and what will suffice in court to get a conviction by the JP? What's the charge for being a left-lane-bandit anyways?

If a cop is driving along in traffic looking for the left-lane bandits he probably won't find any right around him. He certainly won't find enough to justify the directed enforcement initiative you have in your dreams. Actually, since everyone typically slows down and starts to drive like grandmas around cops, the cop's presence will probably be doing more harm than good for traffic congestion & flow.

My guess is that any kind of stationary spot to set up and watch on a highway for left-lane-bandits would be both impractical for trying to them stop the vehicle, and/or also only be a small window into driving time of the motorist that it wouldn't be sufficient evidence in court.

I don't know. Maybe keep dreaming. :lmao:

enforcement of staying Right except to pass.
Many other countries do it successfully. In BC they will be acting on it..


"Driving in the Left Lane - the Canadian Disease" http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ng-lane-the-canadian-disease/article10712661/


BC to eliminate Left Lane Hogs
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/glob...ne-hogs-will-ontario-be-next/article23360588/
 
Not getting this comment. People slow down when the Police are around.



How's Lakeshore, and then cutting through the Ex, work when it's not on?

Just watch at that left turn, lots of people try and squeeze in to the head of the line, from the right.
i do lakeshore to dixie, then hop on to qew/gardiner until the collector for kipling(...)park lawn... depending on how good/bad traffic is, i might take lakeshore exit there or just turn on park lawn... then i take it all the way to fleet street/fort york to come up on bathurst and then go from there in the core...

lakeshore today was bad to horrible from parkside to jameson and then it opened up
 
i do lakeshore to dixie, then hop on to qew/gardiner until the collector for kipling(...)park lawn... depending on how good/bad traffic is, i might take lakeshore exit there or just turn on park lawn... then i take it all the way to fleet street/fort york to come up on bathurst and then go from there in the core...

lakeshore today was bad to horrible from parkside to jameson and then it opened up

It's always horrible when the Exhibition is on. Home always seemed worse.

I used to exit at South Kingsway, and a 12 minute commute, on a good day, was well over an hour on a bad day.

Where I am now, people call it traffic, but it still moves at about 40+ kph, in the congested areas.
 
How can cops enforce lane disciple? Have you thought about everything like evidence of the offence (of being a left-lane bandit), and what will suffice in court to get a conviction by the JP? What's the charge for being a left-lane-bandit anyways?

If a cop is driving along in traffic looking for the left-lane bandits he probably won't find any right around him. He certainly won't find enough to justify the directed enforcement initiative you have in your dreams. Actually, since everyone typically slows down and starts to drive like grandmas around cops, the cop's presence will probably be doing more harm than good for traffic congestion & flow.

My guess is that any kind of stationary spot to set up and watch on a highway for left-lane-bandits would be both impractical for trying to them stop the vehicle, and/or also only be a small window into driving time of the motorist that it wouldn't be sufficient evidence in court.

I don't know. Maybe keep dreaming. :lmao:
The problem is that when I say "enforce" people right away associate it with "ticket" and that is not the case. Educating is also part of the solution and change of culture through education is what is needed but instead we focus all energy on "ticketing" the offenses that are easy to prove in court (revenue generating) neglecting the real causes of dangerous situations like Road Rage due to left lane bandits just to site one.

We have a very bad driving culture in this province, a lot of it aggravates the current situation of our infrastructure and lack of ability to handle the increase in population, but instead of addressing it, we continue to tax citizens with fines on artificially deflated speed limits and not fixing the problem.

So no, I don't really care that it will be difficult for MR officer to prove certain offenses in court, they should be out doing their jobs which is serve and protect, part of serving is helping with the traffic flow of our streets and not just focus on bringing money back to the department, money from our pockets.


...and don't get me started on our F&$#IN@ politicians
evil2.gif



anyways on topic, I started taking the HOV on Eglinton since the PAnan GAmes started, not going close to a HWY until I have to start driving again.
 
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BC is beginning this enforcement due to the success of it in Washington state. I was watching the Vancouver news a couple of months ago, they did a story on how many BC drivers were getting nailed in Washington for driving on the left lane. As for enforcement, if the officer can state in court that you were not engaged in passing a slower vehicle and we're occupying the left lane then that would suffice for most courts. The problem won't be getting the JP to convict it will be with the crown offering deals.


How can cops enforce lane disciple? Have you thought about everything like evidence of the offence (of being a left-lane bandit), and what will suffice in court to get a conviction by the JP? What's the charge for being a left-lane-bandit anyways?

If a cop is driving along in traffic looking for the left-lane bandits he probably won't find any right around him. He certainly won't find enough to justify the directed enforcement initiative you have in your dreams. Actually, since everyone typically slows down and starts to drive like grandmas around cops, the cop's presence will probably be doing more harm than good for traffic congestion & flow.

My guess is that any kind of stationary spot to set up and watch on a highway for left-lane-bandits would be both impractical for trying to them stop the vehicle, and/or also only be a small window into driving time of the motorist that it wouldn't be sufficient evidence in court.

I don't know. Maybe keep dreaming. :lmao:
 
The problem is that when I say "enforce" people right away associate it with "ticket" and that is not the case. Educating is also part of the solution and change of culture through education is what is needed but instead we focus all energy on "ticketing" the offenses that are easy to prove in court (revenue generating) neglecting the real causes of dangerous situations like Road Rage due to left lane bandits just to site one.

So no, I don't really care that it will be difficult for MR officer to prove certain offenses in court, they should be out doing their jobs which is serve and protect, part of serving is helping with the traffic flow of our streets and not just focus on bringing money back to the department, money from our pockets.


That is true. "Enforce" does carry a certain presumption of ticketing. However, I could have sworn it was not the official responsibility of any police service to administer driver education & licensing. That's the government's job through the MTO. It's certainly easy to blame cops though, and inevitably it always seems the police services are saddled with it.

Road rage is a serious issue in today's culture, but where did it all come from? As you stated, it's a social/cultural thing. How many hats must cops wear? Are cops to be therapists and leaders in cultural change? Policing certainly has changed. People want to take less responsibility for actions - blame everyone else - and weirdly the cops keep going along with it - wearing more hats.

As for your last comment I left quoted: It's just not that simple. There is so much more to it, and they certainly are not bringing money back to the department. It's money that goes back to the government - money the government wants and demands of the Chief, who demands of his subordinates, who demand of their subordinates all the way down to the PCs on the road juggling the often many pending radio calls for service and meeting their own work performance objectives/metrics. Just like any other employee/employer relationship.

I guess somewhere in their day we expect them to address the most important, most pressing issue of the vast majority of Canadian life - TRAFFIC and the HTA! Indeed, 101% of Canadians drive and are affected by traffic, road rage, tickets and the lack of policing it - right?!? Only .01% of Canadians are affected by Robberies, Murder, Assaults, Fraud, etc.. you know.. all that less important crap that ties up police resources. Yes, cops should be serving and protecting, and I thought that's what they did. Unfortunately everyone is too selfish to realize that their road-rage free, non-left lane bandit drive is not the bees knees and priority #1 for police. But, everyone expects police to just somehow solve the issue rather than looking to themselves or elsewhere for a solution.

I suppose we could pay more taxes so more cops can be hired to tackle Canada's biggest problem.


Anyways... it's not easy never easy to debate such topics via forums..
 
Let me just leave this here again
100% - If police enforcement shifted from hiding behind trees to enforcing proper lane discipline and the speed limit increased, we could see a significant improvement in traffic flow...

I never said for them not to do the other part of their job not related to the HTA.

Indeed difficult to discuss these things in forums like many other things.
 
Waze sent me to the 407, so I don't know if 401 was buggered for some other reason. DVP wasn't bad but for a couple left lane hogs. Middle lane was fastest for the most part.
I think left lane hogs are actually the biggest contributor to gridlock now. Stunned at the number of seniors out for a coffee cruise during rush periods lately.


Think I must've turned that off somehow because Waze never sends me to the 407.

Are the HOV lanes left on the 401 still in affect? The diamonds and weird dotted line are still there but no signage and as far as I could tell yesterday not a single person in it had more than one person in the vehicle.
 
Think I must've turned that off somehow because Waze never sends me to the 407.

Are the HOV lanes left on the 401 still in affect? The diamonds and weird dotted line are still there but no signage and as far as I could tell yesterday not a single person in it had more than one person in the vehicle.


No the 401 lanes are no longer hOV lanes the ONLY lanes which remain as HOV lanes are the ones which were in placebefore the SCAMAM games
 
The additional HOV's are done since Tuesday 11pm, they covered the signs (didn't remove them which i found odd or a sign to what is to come)
Wase under settings and GPS has a setting to avoid toll routes.
Think I must've turned that off somehow because Waze never sends me to the 407.

Are the HOV lanes left on the 401 still in affect? The diamonds and weird dotted line are still there but no signage and as far as I could tell yesterday not a single person in it had more than one person in the vehicle.
 
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