CityNerd asks 'Carpool Lanes: Commuting Miracle or Enormous Waste of Space?' A driving update

I closed 'Strange Darling' leads Best Thriller Film nominees with seven nominations by noting "I have a driving update to write, since Pearl's odometer rolled over another 1,000 miles yesterday." That was on the 10th, so it's been nearly a week. Since I'm not going to write an entry about the home entertainment nominees at the Saturn Awards, I'm going to post that driving update.

Before I do, I'm sharing Ray "CityNerd" Delahanty asking Carpool Lanes: Commuting Miracle or Enormous Waste of Space?

Today we're looking at high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes -- all the permutations (occupancy restrictions, time of day restrictions, lanes vs. facilities, and HOT lanes, which allow single-occupant vehicles to buy their way into a less congested facility).

We'll go on some tangents, as usual, like how different metropolitan regions view HOV lanes differently, and how these kinds of facilities represent the dynamics of Anthony Downs' concept of "triple convergence."

CityNerd's conclusion that HOV lanes are better than nothing sums up what I wrote about the First carpool lane in Michigan as part of I-75 upgrade eight years ago.

[I]t does have something worth celebrating, a car lane. WOOD-TV mentioned it in MDOT begins 14 year project on I-75 near Detroit [dead link]: "The $90.8 million project, which stretches 18 miles, will add a carpool lane (the first in the state), resurface the highway and replace bridges among other things." That's a small thing, but it is an improvement over the current situation, which does not encourage carpooling.

I've driven on I-75 since, but haven't seen an HOV lane yet. I guess it will be in the segments that haven't been worked on yet. By that time, I might not see them, because I plan on being retired by that time, so I'll be driving less.

That's the big picture. Follow over the jump for my personal driving update.

As I mentioned above, Pearl passed 67,000 miles on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. That's 55 days since her odometer rolled over 66,000 miles on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, which translates to 18.18 miles per day, 554.55 miles per standard month, 6,636.36 per standard year, and 6,654.55 miles per leap year. That's less than the averages of 20.41 miles per day, 622.45 miles per standard month, 7,448.98 miles per standard year, and 7,469.39 miles per leap year I drove her between Wednesday, August 28, 2024 and Wednesday, October 16, 2024. I attribute that to taking a week off for Thanksgiving, when I drove one day's worth over the seven days. I'll be taking nearly three weeks off for Christmas and New Year's Day, then driving to only two work locations instead of three next semester, so I expect to report traveling less per day at the next driving update.

Now for the year-over-year comparisons, beginning with the comparable period last year. Then, it took me 57 days between passing 61,000 miles on October 17, 2023 and 62,000 miles on Wednesday, December 13, 2023 for averages of 17.54 miles per day, 535.09 miles per standard accounting month, and 6,403.51 miles per standard year, so I drove Pearl slightly more this fall than last. It also took me 363 days to drive her 5,000 miles between Wednesday, December 13, 2023 and Tuesday, December 10, 2024, which yields averages of 13.77 miles per day, 420.11 miles per standard month, 5,027.55 miles per standard year, and 5,041.32 per leap year. That's only slightly more than the 13.74 miles per day, 418.96 miles per standard month, 5,013.74 miles per standard year, and 5,027.47 per leap year I drove Pearl between October 18, 2023 and October 16, 2024. Despite the seasonal spike, I'm still keeping my mileage nearly constant and well below the 7,000 miles per year I drove Pearl during 2017. That was my goal and I'm still making it.

That's a wrap for December's driving update. Stay tuned for a post I can share next month, which is also next year.