California told to speed up carpool lanes

In an ultimate irony, car-pool lanes created to speed traffic along have become so clogged that the federal government has stepped in and told the state to get the lanes moving again.

Although some may be quick to pin the blame on the 85,000 hybrid cars now allowed to use the lanes because of their sky-high gas mileage, Caltrans officials say the state's burgeoning population is more likely the culprit.

After learning that the state's 1,380 miles of car-pool lanes are out of federal compliance because cars are traveling too slowly in them, the California Department of Transportation is expected to come up with a strategy by Aug. 31 to get them moving again.

Get the story HERE.

Some say families driving to soccer practices and day care are filling up these lanes, not people in carpools. What do you think? Is the idea that carpool lanes encourage carpools a mere fantasy? Would we be better off converting these lanes for regular use? Tell our blog!