Carpool lanes don’t work as intended

Re “405 Carpool Lane Bill Speeds Toward Approval,” Jan. 11

State lawmakers should fast-track the construction of a new lane on the San Diego Freeway; however, why should it be a carpool lane?

Wasn’t the original thought of carpool lanes that workers would ride together, thus reducing traffic and conserving fuel?

One has to be blind not to see who really uses these lanes. It’s the mother with children, retired people in multiples, work crews (they are already at work), couples driving across town for dinner, etc.

So where’s the benefit or logic of keeping drivers whose gas-tax money pays for these lanes out of them when this harebrain carpool nonsense doesn’t work as intended?

Furthermore, why don’t our elected officials work to correct this insanity instead of lock-stepping to perpetuate the ideas of some special-interest group?

JOHN MORAN

Thousand Oaks