High-occupancy vehicle lane

For the song "HOV Lane" by Nicki Minaj, see Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. Traffic sign used for high-occupancy traffic lanes in Norway. A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes in Australia and New Zealand) is a restricted traffic lane reserved at peak travel times or longer for exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers, including carpools, vanpools and transit buses. The normal minimum occupancy level is 2 or 3 occupants. Many jurisdictions exempt other vehicles, including motorcycles, charter buses, emergency and law enforcement vehicles, low emission and other green vehicles, and/or single-occupancy vehicles paying a toll. HOV lanes are normally created to increase higher average vehicle occupancy and person throughput with the goal of reducing traffic congestion and air pollution[1][2][3] although their effectiveness is questionable.[4] Regional and corporate sponsored vanpools, car... (see more)