TRAFFIC CONTROL: Caltrans pondering 3-person carpool requirement for Orange County

Facing pressure from the federal government, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is considering a new measure that would impose a three-person requirement on vehicles using carpool lanes in Orange County.

With heavily congested highways all across the state, the agency has been working to improve commute times on the worst sections, starting with Orange County. If Caltrans implements the measure, it would raise the number of people required in a car for use of a carpool lane from two to three.

At present, Caltrans officials say that carpool lanes in the region are so congested during heavy traffic periods that none of them function as a carpool lane is supposed to.

The agency says it is looking at every freeway across the state, but there are no existing plans to upgrade carpool lanes anywhere else.