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| | Social Norms and Improving HOV Lane Violation Rates |
| | Introduction |
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< | When I lived in Maryland, I picked up my mom from work everyday. With two people in the vehicle, we lawfully took advantage of the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on the highway portion of our commute. I observed that on days when traffic was especially bad and the time saved by sneaking in a few miles in the HOV lane was especially great, there would be a high number of solo commuters in the HOV lane; seeing one solo commuter for every multi-occupant vehicle was common. Police officers infrequently patrolled this particular stretch of the highway, and on the occasions when a police officer would be enforcing lawful HOV lane use, he would virtually always be camped at the same exact spot every time. I often saw HOV lane violators (who were presumably frequent commuters with knowledge of the usual checkpoint location) milk the benefits of driving in the lane until they switched back into an unrestricted lane right before the checkpoint. |
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> | When I lived in Maryland, I picked up my mom from work everyday. With two people in the vehicle, we took advantage of the highway's high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane. On days when traffic was especially bad and the time saved by sneaking in a few miles in the HOV lane was especially great, I noticed that there would be a high number of solo commuters in the HOV lane; seeing a solo commuter for every multi-occupant vehicle was common. Police officers infrequently patrolled this particular stretch of the highway, and on the occasions when a police officer would be enforcing the HOV lane, he would virtually always be camped at the same spot. I often saw violators milk the benefits of driving in the lane until they switched back into an unrestricted lane before the predictable checkpoint. |
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< | This first-hand experience with the problem of high HOV enforcement got me thinking as to what makes enforcement so difficult, and what possible solutions are. In this paper I argue that because enforcement is so difficult and costly, creating social norms will be the driving force behind achieving high compliance with HOV lane rules (a theory that has also been described by Professor Strahilevitz). |
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> | This experience with poor HOV enforcement made me think about what makes enforcement so difficult, and what possible solutions are. In this paper I argue that because enforcement is so difficult and costly, creating social norms and stigmatizing cheating will be the driving force behind achieving compliance with HOV lane rules (a theory that has also been described by Professor Strahilevitz.) |
| | History and Benefits |
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< | HOV lanes were created in the 1960s and 1970s in response to rising foreign oil prices and the subsequent need to lower gas consumption. Creation of HOV lanes has since become popular among city governments as a way of encouraging carpooling, thereby increasing person throughput, increasing road capacity, and improving air quality. However, HOV lanes have been criticized as actually lowering road capacity and increasing overall congestion, while proponents point to the development of "slugging," an organized system of carpooling and taking advantage of HOV lanes, as evidence of effectiveness. |
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> | HOV lanes were created in the 1960s and 1970s in response to rising foreign oil prices and the consequent desirability of lowering gas consumption. Creation of HOV lanes became popular among cities as a way of encouraging carpooling, thereby increasing person throughput and road capacity, and improving air quality. However, HOV lanes have been criticized as actually lowering road capacity and increasing overall congestion. Proponents point to the development of "slugging," an organized system of taking advantage of HOV lanes, as evidence of effectiveness. |
| | The effectiveness of HOV lanes is a matter of great debate, one that is not the topic of this paper. This paper will proceed under the assumption that increased compliance with HOV lane rules is desirable.
Problems With Enforcement |
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< | Lawful HOV lane use is notoriously difficult to enforce, as evidenced by high peak hour violation rates in parts of the country. A commonly proposed solution is to devote more police officer time to checking for violators. This fails as a long-term solution for several reasons. One is that it is difficult to see whether a particular vehicle is in compliance with HOV lane rules. Occupants such as babies (who do count as occupants for HOV purposes; a fetus in a pregnant woman's womb, meanwhile, does not) and people napping in a reclined position can be hard to see with the naked eye, especially when they are inside a fast-moving vehicle. Further complicating matters, some states, such as Arizona, have allowed owners of certain hybrid vehicles to apply for special license plates that let them to use HOV lanes regardless of occupancy. Another reason that devoting more police officer time to enforcement is undesirable is that it can be counterproductive. The draw of HOV lanes for potential carpoolers lies in its faster transit times, but police officers often slow traffic because of the common practice of slowing down when one sees a police car ahead. Lastly, many object to devoting valuable resources to enforcing relatively innocuous HOV lane violations. |
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> | HOV lane use is notoriously difficult to enforce, as evidenced by high violation rates throughout the country. A commonly proposed solution is devoting more patrol time to enforcement. This fails as a long-term solution. It can be difficult to see whether a particular vehicle is in compliance with HOV lane rules. Occupants such as babies and sleeping passengers are hard to see with the naked eye, especially when they are inside a fast-moving vehicle. Further complicating matters, some states, such as Arizona, have allowed owners of certain hybrid vehicles to apply for special license plates that let them use HOV lanes regardless of occupancy. Devoting more police officer time to enforcement can also be counterproductive. The draw of HOV lanes for potential carpoolers lies in their faster transit times, but police officers often slow traffic because many drivers slow down when they see a police car ahead. Lastly, many object to devoting valuable resources to enforcing relatively innocuous HOV lane violations. |
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< | Most alternatives are flawed. Barriers between HOV and unrestricted lanes increase the effectiveness of police officer enforcement. However, this may lead to slower transit times in the HOV lane, as the effect of one slow driver would be amplified. Also, the HOV lane would have fewer exits and entries, possibly discouraging use of the lane. Video and photographic surveillance is fraught with inaccuracies as it often cannot detect children and sleeping people. More details about enforcement options can be found here. |
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> | Most alternatives are flawed. Barriers between HOV and unrestricted lanes can increase the effectiveness of police officer enforcement, but may lead to slower transit times in the HOV lane, as the effect of one slow driver is amplified. Also, the lower number of exits and entries for the HOV lane would discourage use even by carpoolers. Video and photographic surveillance is fraught with inaccuracies since it often cannot detect children and sleeping people. |
| | Success of the FasTrak? Program |
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< | One successful solution has been creation of a high occupancy toll (HOT) lane by allowing solo commuters the option to buy their way onto the HOV lane. San Diego did this with their FasTrak? program, launched in 1996, and it has resulted in an increased number of carpoolers and decreased violation rate.
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> | One successful solution has been the creation of a high occupancy toll (HOT) lane by allowing solo commuters the option to buy their way into the HOV lane. San Diego did this with their FasTrak? program, launched in 1996, and it has resulted in an increased number of carpoolers and decreased violation rate. Although patrol presence increased with the launch of the program, this cannot fully explain these successful results since historically, violation rates had not fallen and risen with the level of enforcement. What explains these results? |
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> | Social Norms |
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> | Social norms can be an effective, low-maintenance way of encouraging people to act in certain ways. In class discussion and in the literature, it has been suggested that social norms play a role in homeowners continuing payments even when it is advantageous to walk away. There is a social stigma attached to foreclosure. We have also seen this with seat belt laws. It was only a few decades ago when few people wore seat belts. But because of seat belt laws, use of seat belts became so widespread that now many people buckle up upon sitting in a car without thinking twice. Other examples of social norms people generally adhere to without enforcement include cursing in front of children, recycling, and leaving a tip after a meal in a restaurant.
There is already a social deterrent from violating HOV lane rules in areas that have not implemented a program similar to FasTrak? . Violators frequently get dirty looks and honks from carpoolers. This, coupled with the volume of people a violator drives past during a traffic jam, can be a powerful deterrent for some (this is the main deterrent that I consider when driving solo). However, given the unpopularity and emptiness of many HOV lanes, there is still a high rate of violators who believe they are doing a social good in violating what they consider a stupid law.
The FasTrak? program has created a social norm against cheating. The popularity of the program, the stupidity of violation and risking hefty fines, and the availability of meaningful alternatives have helped create a community-wide stigma against violation. As violation rates decrease further, it becomes internalized that cheating is socially unacceptable, eventually reaching a point where people adhere to the rules voluntarily and with little enforcement. Guilt becomes the deterrent.
HOV lane enforcement is costly and ineffective. Thus, creation of a social norm that produces guilt in violators will be the main factor in improving nationwide compliance with HOV lane rules. |