The development and use of high-occupancy vehicle (hov) facilities have provided a cost-effective way to increase the efficiency of existing transportation networks with relatively few environmental, social, or environmental and social impacts. A positive public attitude toward these facilities is critical to both their effectiveness and the political viability of the facilities. Therefore, it is imperative for transportation agencies that rely on hov facilities to beaware of the attitudes of the public toward these facilities. Theseagencies must know the desires of the population at large and determine appropriate education and marketing programs. In 1988 the washington state department of transportation began research on hov compliance. Two primary objectives of the project were (a) to determine the public's attitudes toward both the hero hotline program (to report hov violations) and the hov system through a survey, and (b) to analyze the effectiveness of the hero program. The public attitude survey that was conducted, the results of that survey, and the implications the survey results have on the effectiveness of the hero program are described in this paper. Conclusions and recommendations are also presented. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1299, Hov facilities and transportation systems management 1991 .
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