I remember asking about this at one of the community meetings in Redwood City for the San Mateo 101 Express Lanes project. Projections at the time showed a clea

I remember asking about this at one of the community meetings in Redwood City for the San Mateo 101 Express Lanes project. Projections at the time showed a clear trend in increased car traffic on the 101, and thus even HOV lanes would have the same traffic jams as the regular lanes. They couldn't even keep the express lanes as HOV 2+; they needed to change it to 3+ in order to ensure a minimum travel speed of 35mph during rush hour. That said I do find it amusing that if you drive up the I-5 up to Oregon, people suddenly know to keep the left lane clear as a passing lane as soon as you cross into Oregon. (But cross back into California and the _exact same cars_ in your pack will suddenly coast slowly in the leftmost lane.)