What is the HOV Lane on I-66?

View of the Beltway
I-495 (the Beltway) near Alexandria VA
Many states have the HOV lane incorporated into their interstate system. What is the HOV lane? Let's start with what it stands for, High Occupancy Vehicle. This simply means that vehicles with more than one person can travel in the HOV lane. There are exceptions such as motorcycles.  They are aloud to also use the HOV lane, with or without a passenger. The concept is to get people to commute together, we also call this car-pooling, so it cuts down on traffic, emissions, etc. The benefit to the occupants of the car is getting to where they are going quicker. I-66 has HOV lanes for your use. The I-66 runs east to west from Washington D.C. then crosses into Virginia. There are HOV lanes inside the beltway and outside the beltway. Below is how the I-66 HOV lanes work. I-66 HOV Outside the Beltway 5:30a.m.-9:00a.m. - AM Rush Eastbound-HOV2 and Motorcycles Only 3:00p.m.-7:00p.m.- PM Rush Westbound-HOV2 and Motorcycles Only All Other Time Slots-Open to All Traffic I-66 Inside the Beltway 6:30a.m.- 9:00a.m.- AM Rush Eastbound-HOV2 and Motorcycles Only 4:00p.m.- 6:30p.m.- PM Rush Westbound-HOV2 and Motorcycles Only All Other Time Slots -Open to All Traffic Dulles Airport Traffic is always permitted for all traffic. For more information on the HOV lanes for I-66 please contact the Virginia DOT at www.virginiadot.org. Always obey the rules of the road and have a safe trip.  

Aubrey Nesbitt

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Aubrey Nesbitt is a native of Northern Virginia who attended Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a veteran of the US Army and helps his family business by providing informational articles like this one. In addition to photography and blogging, Aubrey provides administrative support for the office. Aubrey is a service-disabled retired veteran and a part of our family. We give him the opportunity to work at the office and on the web as part of his recovery. The opinions and statements presented by Aubrey are his own and we don't necessarily agree with them.