Hooray for the Carpool Lane!

It's 7:30 am, and we are running late. We are about to join rush hour traffic at its peak. The I-85 stretch between GA316 and I-285 is one of the busiest thoroughfares into Atlanta, and that's exactly where we are... I'm preparing myself for a long drive ahead.

But wait! I'm going at almost 60 mph, while on my right, the cars are almost at a standstill. How is that possible? I can't help but smile... I didn't expect my rush hour drive to be this pleasant!

How is this possible? The HOV lane.

This high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane is great! As long as there are 2 or more people in your vehicle, you are allowed to use it. It easily saved us at least 30 minutes on our commute to and from work. It just goes to show how many people drive alone. I never really felt the advantage until just a few days ago, when I started driving to work with Caroline. It's like using a warp zone in Super Mario Brothers... you skip all the 'hard' levels and get to your destination quickly.

It's a good thing too that (most) drivers here are disciplined enough not to go on the HOV lane when they are the only ones in their vehicle. No offense, but in the Philippines, a carpool lane would never work! When we disregard the line that differentiates opposing traffic and create our own 'counterflow', how can we obey an HOV lane?

Anyway, I'm just glad that the trip to and from work is not as stressful as it once was...

Life is Beautiful!