Roughly four years ago, the Chron‘s transit columnist at the time was asked about downtown HOV/”Diamond” bus and carpool lanes, and basically told readers that the regulations are not enforced, and indeed would be nearly impossible to enforce.
In this week’s transit column, the question returns, but the newspaper ran the more “official” answer:
The diamond lanes in downtown Houston and Midtown run along Smith, Louisiana, Milam, Travis, Fannin and San Jacinto. During certain hours–which vary and are marked by signs–only “mass transit vehicles” or vehicles making right turns can use the lanes, said Raequel Roberts, spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Any type of peace officer can enforce the law, including Houston police, Metro police and Harris County deputies.
The maximum fine for a violation is $200, says Randy Zamora, senior assistant city attorney. Usually, the ticket is $170 with court costs. Zamora said he couldn’t calculate how many bus lane violations had been issued in the past five years because the tickets are lumped together with violations for “failure to obey an official traffic control device.”
Hmm, our best guess is that the regulations still are not enforced, because they still are nearly impossible to enforce. But if you do get a ticket, please don’t blame us. It would hardly be shocking if city officials started working a Downtown HOV/Diamond-Lane Violators revenue stream!
