I’m very impressed with the NX. It’s very good. I was thinking about getting the CA HOV sticker to use on the carpool lane before starting a new job. Are they helpful in cutting down the commute times? Especially on the 105 in SoCal?

thx!

 

I spend most of my time on the 405, so your experience may differ. I find the usefulness of the carpool lane varies by the time of day and the amount of traffic. Sometimes the "slow" lane is the fastest just because everyone is piling into the "faster" lanes and the carpool lane, clogging those up and leaving the slow lane more open. Even without the carpool lanes, it's all about figuring out what the usual psychological dynamic is of your fellow drivers. Nevertheless, having the carpool lane as an option can be helpful.

One downside to the carpool lanes in LA is that for the most part they are only one lane, and there are only openings at certain intervals. So sometimes you'll get stuck behind some slowpoke going slower than the regular fast lane or worse yet below the speed limit, and then when you get to an opening it may be too short or there's too much traffic in the regular lanes to pass the slowpoke.

 

I commute to work omn the 105 from 405 to Bellflower and back. As you may know there are built in bottlenecks on the 105 such as past the 710 going east in the morning and west past the 710, both because lanes are lost. These areas are where the carpool sticker has saved me time.