Weekend carpool chaos on Bay Bridge is very troubling

Q We often use what I call “Grand Avenue Approach” to the Bay Bridge because there are two lanes for FasTrak that you can access that way.

Usually this is pretty good on weekends, but a recent Saturday was horrible. Twentyseven cars went through just during the time when we were waiting for the metering light and the vast majority clogging Grand Avenue from Interstate 880 were not FasTrak holders.

What happens to these cars who use the busonly lanes on weekends? You very seldom see them pulled over by the CHP. — Roger Helbig, Richmond A This may make you feel a little happier. Last week the California Highway Patrol was pulling over several cars using the bus lanes. And the CHP has nabbed as many as 300 during previous one- day crackdowns.

But this will not please you: Bridge authorities don’t pass on their plates to the CHP because they are not allowed to do that by law. Up to 2,000 to 3,000 vehicles use busonly lanes 19-20 on a typical Saturday, during noncarpool hours. But it’s not clear how many are buses using the lanes legally and drivers using them illegally.

If a driver gets away without a citation it’s no different than speeding, driving through a stop sign, etc.

It seems like a target-rich environment to catch people if the CHP wanted. But the CHP is focused primarily on safety and not toll evasion, so it’s not a priority for them. Q If BART prefers we use Clipper cards instead of paper tickets, why don’t they take out the paper ticket vending machines and put in Clipper machines at all stations? If I could buy a Clipper card as easy as I can buy a paper ticket, I would. — Paul Young, El Cerrito A Soon you will be able to do just that. BART has been installing Clipper vending machines and all stations will have them by Jan 1. Go to Clippercard.com for more information. Q I am sure that you have heard of Murphy’s Law, Moore’s Law and perhaps Gravity’s Law, but here is a new law that I propose:

“When driving at the speed limit and a vehicle driving faster passes you, both your car and the other car will end up stopped at the next red light together.”

This has happened to me so many times that there must be a super natural law governing such an event.

I give you full permission to call this Gary’s Law. — Bob Hughes, San Jose A Gary’s Law? I would be honored.