Express Lanes, why the DGT considers them an antidote against cars with a single occupant

The General Directorate of Traffic (DGT) believes that vehicles occupied by a single person have become the main cause of the traffic jams that occur daily at the entrances and exits of large cities.

Pere Navarro, the director general of this organization, has set at 85 % the number of vehicles barely occupied by a driver in Spain, and he is willing to take measures to reduce this figure.

One of the options to consider is the express lanes, which are used in various parts of the world, including some —although few— in the national territory.

What is an express lane

An express lane is one that is specially reserved for those transporting more than one person, also known as high occupancy lanes.

These lanes reward those who travel by carpooling towards the city center, allowing them to avoid the typical traffic jams during peak hours.

On one hand, this means that the occupants of the express lanes benefit by taking much less time to reach their destination.

On the other hand, pollutant emissions are reduced, as well as the stress caused by traffic jams, but only for those who have the possibility to share a vehicle, whether with friends, acquaintances, or family.

History and background of the express lane

The idea of rewarding those who share a vehicle is not new, although its expansion has been slow and uneven.

It originated in the United States in the 1970s, when the first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems were implemented: express bus lines that traveled on exclusive lanes to avoid traffic jams and offer a fast, efficient, and competitive service compared to private cars.

That logic —giving priority to more sustainable and collective modes of transport— was the seed of what we now know as express lanes.

Europe was slow to implement this model. France, for example, did not start systematically applying this strategy until 2020. But in recent years it has accelerated decisively, and Paris has become its main testing ground.

Since March 2025, the French capital has reserved the left lane of the Boulevard Périphérique —the busiest urban highway in Europe— for vehicles with more than one occupant, buses, and taxis during peak hours on weekdays.

The result: those who carpool or take public transport take less time to get to work than those who travel alone. This measure, inspired by the mobility system used during the Olympic Games, has marked a before and after in the city.

The Spanish experience

Spain has not limited itself to observing from the sidelines: in fact, it was the first European nation to invest in express lanes.

In the 1990s, long before cities like Paris experimented with reserved lanes, the first Bus-VAO lane was launched on the A-6 highway, one of the main access roads to Madrid.

This corridor connects several municipalities in the northwest perimeter with the Moncloa interchange, and since then it has established itself as a benchmark for sustainable mobility at the European level.

The data supports this. According to a report by L’Institut Paris Region in 2022, the Bus-VAO lane on the A-6 managed to halve bus travel times during the morning peak hour. And not only that, cars with more than one occupant also experienced a 43% reduction in their travel times.

For Indalecio Candel González, head of the Mobility Management Area at the General Directorate of Traffic, that was the true success of the project: to demonstrate that improving the frequency and speed of public transport was possible with a relatively simple intervention.

The commitment did not stop there. In 2006, researchers Paul Pfaffenbichler and Miguel Mateos analyzed new ways to implement reserved lanes without the need for major construction.

Their proposal consisted of reconverting existing lanes into exclusive ones for buses or high occupancy vehicles, without building additional infrastructure.

By modeling different scenarios of the access highways to Madrid, their results indicated that this solution was cheaper, but also more effective in reducing pollutant emissions and limiting urban sprawl.

Thus, the idea of the dynamic lane was born, a more versatile and adaptable formula. Instead of adding road space, it optimizes the use of the already available space, adapting the traffic configuration according to the time of day, weather conditions, or road status.

"Its greatest advantage is versatility," says Candel González. "It can be maneuvered according to time slots or specific circumstances." A modern, flexible solution aligned with the urban sustainability goals that today inspire many mobility policies in Europe.

Fuente: DGT