New York City Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall announced last Thursday that vehicles using the Gowanus Expressway HOV lane would be required to carry three or more people starting in April, when officials plan to re-open the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to more traffic.

Starting April 1, the tunnel will be subject to the same carpool rule that affects other crossings into the Manhattan central business district — cars must have two or more occupants to use the bridges and tunnels between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The Gowanus HOV lane runs from the Verrazano Bridge to the Brooklyn Battery tunnel.A NY State DOT study from 1998 showed that about 80% of people traveling in the lane were express bus riders.Express bus ridership has increased since then, so bus riders’ share of total travelers in the lane is likely even higher now.The study and a great deal of anecdotal evidence showed that increasing car use of the HOV lane had slowed it nearly to the speed of the Gowanus’ chronically clogged general traffic lanes. 

In response, the Campaign and others have agitated for a stronger access standard to the HOV lane.Campaign staff were joined by members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 726, representing S.I. bus workers, and the United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park at an August, 1999 press conference (MTR #234).The groups called on the NY State DOT to make the Gowanus HOV a bus-only lane during rush hour.

The effort to win bus-only or HOV-3 status for the Gowanus lane was supported by State Senators Vincent Gentile and Martin Connor, Assemblywoman Joan Millman, the Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives.

The Tri-State Campaign later chronicled the near-doubling of express bus ridership in the city from 1998-2001 (MTR #’s 226, 331), and released materials showing that HOV lane thresholds used by officials in California and Texas would led to HOV-3 or bus-only status on the Gowanus HOV lane long ago (MTR #303).

The NY State DOT was studying the issue, but apparently, it took the post-September 11 experience, when the Gowanus HOV lane was made a bus-only route, and the increasing policy making role of the New York City DOT to produce a real change.

“HOV-3 will give express buses quick accessibility to the lower Manhattan area, thus enhancing mass transit,” Commissioner Weinshall said in a release.

The NY State DOT was reportedly studying whether a system of new park and ride lots could be developed along with a stronger Gowanus HOV access standard.It’s unclear when or whether such facilities may be implemented — the state has not issued a statement about the policy change.

In any case, express bus riders from Staten Island and southern Brooklyn should see faster commutes.A better trip may in turn fuel further growth in the city’s express bus market.

“City DOT’s decision is a smart move for New York.Bus riders are over 80% of the people using the Gowanus HOV lane, and until now they have had slower commutes because the express lane acted more like a local,” the Campaign said in a statement released late Thursday.

New York Behind the Curve on HOV Lanes  (Feb. 5, 2001)

Nassau Bus Riders Continue to Grow But Will Gov't Abandon Them? 
(Aug. 27, 2000)

Groups Call for Gowanus Bus Lane (Aug. 20, 1999)

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