A 28 member citizens committee known as the Transportation Futures Committee (TFC) examined a wide range of transportation issues facing Clark County over the next 20 years to address internal county travel and bi-state travel needs between Oregon and Washington. The committee identified high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes as the second priority for improving travel in the I-5 corridor and as a potential strategy to address mobility for the internal Clark County transportation system. HOV lanes refer to travel lanes that are dedicated for use by carpools or buses; they are essentially for use by vehicles that carry more than one passenger.
The RTC Board and the C-TRAN Board have approved the initiation of a Regional High Occupancy Transportation Study. The purpose of the study is to develop a High Occupancy Transportation Region-wide System Plan for Clark County. Clark County is one of Washington's fastest-growing counties. Figures from the Office of Financial Management show that the county's population grew by 27.5 percent from 1990 to 1996. Nearly 1 out of 10 new Washington residents over the last six years lives in Clark County. A corresponding proportional investment in expanding transportation system capacity has not occurred. The result of fast-paced growth and slow transportation system investment is a loss of mobility for people and goods due to increasing levels of traffic congestion.
A high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) program can improve overall mobility in the most congested parts of our region by increasing the people-moving efficiency and capacity of freeway and arterials. Integration of the HOV program with land use goals, transit operations and the development of high capacity transit facilities will also provide incentives for people to choose higher occupancy modes of travel. To date, the Clark County region has no regionally adopted HOV policies or program to develop HOV facilities.
