With remarkable speed, New Jersey politicians are buckling under the pressure of the Star Ledger's front page "Lanes of Pain" campaign to decommission the carpool lanes on I-287 and I-80. No intelligent transportation policy debate is taking place regarding the future of the lanes - it's just fast, cheap politics.

The Ledger reports today that Senator Frank Lautenberg has inserted language into the federal transportation appropriation bill that would permit NJ to abandon the I-287 HOV lane without an act of Congress (the HOV lane received Congressionally earmarked federal funding). State officials would likely still have to win FHWA approval to ditch the lane without repaying federal funds. NJ officials have cited the repayment as their greatest hurdle in getting rid of the HOV lanes.

NJDOT is now talking the anti-HOV talk, as opposed to just weeks ago when the agency's leaders insisted the HOV lanes needed a few more years to prove themselves. NJ Transportation Commissioner Haley bemoaned the fact that Lautenberg's language did not cover the I-80 HOV lanes. "The minute we could give [the feds] some data on the lanes being ineffective, I'm sure we would [decommission them]," a Whitman Administration spokesperson told the Ledger.

Congressman Bob Franks and Senator Robert Torricelli have also jumped on the bandwagon, saying they are pleased with Lautenberg's move.

Part of the Tri-State Campaign's consistent opposition to HOV lane construction in our region is that, once built, the lanes are easy targets for campaigns like the Ledger's. Once opened up, the lanes are just more traffic- and sprawl-inducing highway capacity.

Whitman, Ledger, NJDOT Have No Plan
Perhaps the NJ Association of Rail Passengers, writing in Commuter News, said it best:

"Notably lacking in the Star-Ledger's 'let's ditch HOV lanes' campaign is the simple question: What happens when the liberated HOV lanes are as equally congested [as regular traffic lanes] ?

"NJ-ARP, like the Star Ledger, is critical of HOV lanes; for our part, it's because HOV has been sold as mass transit, when in fact it's a round-about way to expand highway capacity - and feed more sprawl...

"...Road warriors may succeed in liberating HOV lanes from government restriction; we hope they enjoy their victory as they stew in the same traffic jam five miles down the road."