Cameras monitor carpool lanes on busy Paris autoroute

Cameras have been installed on the A86 around Paris to monitor vehicles using the carpool lane as part of a summer pilot programme that, if successful, will be rolled out across the whole of the Île-de-France.

The experimental cameras will be in operation along the a stretch of 'super-périphérique' in Colombes until August.

Although the results of the trial could be used to help officials determine when and how to police carpool lanes in future, the aim of the trial is not to prosecute drivers who use the carshare lane when there are no passengers in their vehicles. The cameras have been installed at steering wheel height and, officials say, will not identify occupants or licence plates.

Rather, it is to monitor how many people are in cars that use the carpool lanes. Across Île-de-France the average number of occupants per car is estimated at just 1.1. Authorities blame the regular traffic jams on the volume of cars. They say that if more people carshare the number of vehicles will fall, leading to fewer bouchons.