More carpooling lanes for Calgary hits speed bump

Despite overwhelming interest from Calgary city council to create more carpooling lanes,aldermen will have to wait until June for a comprehensive report.

The land use, planning and transportation committee was given a one-page update on the possibility of adding more high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes Wednesday.

City staff said they preferred to include a full HOV report when they report back to the committe on abroader transportation program in June.

Calgary has only one HOV lane, reserved for buses or vehicles with two or more people inside. It's located on Centre Street between 20th Avenue North and 3rd Avenue South and is in effect only during weekday rush hours (7-8:30 a.m. and 3:30-6 p.m.).

HOV lanes are designed to cut commuting time and reduce the number of vehicles on the road. They've been implemented with some success in large cities including Vancouver and Los Angeles.

Ald. Gord Lowe, who represents the northwest suburbs,wants to seeHOV lanes created on all major roads in and out of the downtown. He said it would require provincial permission to put the lanes on busy Deerfoot Trail.

"I think Calgary's big enough now where of a matter of necessity we have to put them in," Lowe said Wednesday.

Ald. John Mar also supportsadding more HOV lanes in the city, especially on extremely congested roads like Bow Trail and Glenmore Trail.

"We can't increase road capacity without great expenditure. What can be done in a practical way where we can increase our mobility?" he said.

Mar acknowledged that if HOV lanes were added, enforcement would be an issue that he hoped would be addressed in the report.

"We are a winter city and certainly Calgarians love their cars," he said.

"Enforcement is always going to be an issue but there's that old adage, how do you get 50 Canadians out of a pool? And the answer is you ask them."

Mar said the June report will define whether or not HOV lanes will work in a Calgary context, but council would seek public input before taking any action.