More carpool and express lanes on U.S. Highway 101?

This really stinks. I've been commuting in 101 construction for the past 7? years! First project was widening the lanes from University to 85. Once that was finished, no sooner then two? months, a new project to widen the creek near Embarcadero started!

So current construction will be finished in a year? New project will take 3? years?

If I'm lucky I can drive without construction/delays for four years before I retire...unless they decide to start the bike bridge in four years...

If more people were bicycling or using electrified Caltrain like other recent articles here recommend, we wouldn't need to spend BILLIONS OF DOLLARS on new freeways.

@BILLIONS AND BILLIONS - Your comment betrays a misunderstanding of the magnitude of the problem. It is like suggesting we deal with world hunger by growing a tomato plant on your porch. CalTrain can't make a dent in 101 traffic, even electrified with double the number of trains There just isn't enough capacity. And you can't replace a 30 minute car commute with a bicycle, even safe bike infrastructure existed along most commuter routes, which it doesn't.

The idea that over-development induced congestion can be alleviated by bicycling would be laughable, if it wasn't so sad.

In fact, it has been the misguide belief that somehow bicycling could make density/urbanization work that has lead (at least in part) to the over-development and congestion that makes the roads unsafe for bicycles to share with cars.

@Ahem

Sorry? Bicycling is a great way to avoid congestion, though some people seem to have confused it's purpose, as if the goal is to get people off the road to make their commutes easier...

We can't ride a bike to the airport!

We need some serious express bus routes on 101, to the airports, to BART, to cross Dumbarton and San Mateo Bridges, to Morgan Hill and Gilroy.

Get some Google type buses that any of us can take that are efficient, comfortable and reliable.

"Caltrain can't make a dent in 101 traffic..."

Caltrain currently carries 60,000 people per day. Assume that is 30,000 in the morning and the same in the evening and that the commutes are spread over 3 hours each. That is 10,000 people per hour. If cars on 101 are spaced at 1.5 second intervals per lane with 1 person per car, that is 2400 people per hour per lane. In other words, Caltrain is carrying the equivalent of 4 lanes of 101 traffic, and it can be doubled for a fraction the cost of expanding a freeway. Even if the rough numbers above are off by a large factor, it is clear that Caltrain CAN make a serious dent in 101 traffic.

The potential of the train to impact peninsula traffic is a great thing to look into more closely, and lends itself to math and data.

(Granted, based on history of growing megalopolises, there's a likely problem that with more transportation, more housing will be built; and with more housing, more business will be attracted; and with more housing and more business, more transportation will be necessary; and this might create a qualitatively different inability of the total transportation system to meet needs of the peninsula.)

Comparisons should use correct data and properly apply the same analysis on both sides.

Is there really 1.5 seconds between cars on 101 during rush hour? Where on 101? What about the rest of the day (there are indeed many companies that allow flex time).

Pick the same point on the tracks. How often do trains pass that point and how many people are on those trains?

That's at least a comparison of 101 and the train. But shouldn't we look at all parallel roads, including e.g. 280, to determine the realtime contribution potential of the single train to people movement on the peninsula?

So somehow biking and Caltrain can't help congestion, but adding a lane will, huh? That's amazing selective optimism.

Add Carpool lanes.
- The current carpool lanes are just as backed up as the regular lanes.
Enforce the carpool rules !!!
- too many solo drivers in the carpool lane. Give them expensive tickets.
- stop allowing hybrids and electric vehicles to use the carpool lane.

Silicon Valley is becoming one big gridlocked mess.