content: I used to reverse commute on i495 I have driven up and down the east coast, and halfway down i70 W/E.... Long island traffic is the worst. Get the hell out of there. You are breathing in SO MUCH exhaust when you sit in traffic. the minimum 40mph they have posted, and the HOV lanes are both worthless. 40mph is extremley slow durring non traffic times. and 40mph is impossible when there's traffic. so really it helps in neither scenario. hov lanes are a joke, and often move slower than the regular lanes. what they should have are express lanes.  you wasting a large percentage of you life sitting in traffic if you live there.