I guess It’s different when you live in a area with constant traffic. Around where I live (long island + NYC), the traffic flow is about 10mph during rush hour on the highway, while the HOV lane moves at maybe 25-30mph. Off peak times you’re right, the regular lanes are better (Since you can always pass a slowpoke),…

Sounds like a poorly managed HOV lane. In the NYC metro area we have HOV lanes that are sort of like express lanes; you can only enter/exit every 3 exits or so, and if you don’t abide by that, you WILL be pulled over. Off-peak hours they’re pretty useless, but around the morning/evening rush; taking the lane will…