What is the safety record of HOV lanes?
Ontario’s HOV lanes have been designed to the highest safety standard, based on over 30 years of experience in other jurisdictions with HOV facilities. Ontario’s HOV design includes a buffer separating the HOV lane from the general traffic lane, lane widths to ministry standards and a left shoulder, for optimum safety. Poor safety records of some HOV facilities in other jurisdictions have typically resulted from attempts to add an HOV lane where the existing roadway cannot accommodate a buffer between the HOV lane and general traffic lane, adequate widths for the general traffic and HOV lanes and/or a left shoulder. The result is an increase in the likelihood of collisions and reduced driver manoeuvrability. MTO’s HOV lanes have been added to existing highways by widening the highway, rather than converting existing lanes or shoulders. There are now more than 4,000 kilometres of HOV lanes operating across North America, including lanes in British Columbia, California, Seattle and Houst
