Since the winter, we've been going from Washington (actually Bethesda, Maryland) to Manhattan (Penn Station block) every other weekend. And we've taken the bus.

We taken Vamoose which is, of all things, a Hasidic-owned company that charges $25 each way with a free trip after every four paid trips. Vamoose is one of about a half dozen new bus companies that have sprung up recently just on this run.

In the winter the Vamoose drives made the trip in 3 hours and 40 minutes or so, which is better time than I've ever gotten by car. The buses are packed. I have never seen so many yuppie types on a bus. And everybody seems happy and amazed that the bus experience can be so pleasant.

But now it's summer.

That means that the buses are getting stuck in the I-95 traffic like everyone else. It's not so pleasant.

Nonetheless, the half dozen or so NY-DC bus companies that came on the scene recently are packing them in. The $4 gas is one obvious reason but there are plenty of others. But the summer traffic is depressing business a bit, especially when one considers that in warm weather more people want to travel, not fewer. An extra hour or more stuck in traffic on a bus in no incentive to switch to mass transit.

But what if the buses traveled in an HOV-type bus lane, exclusive to buses. Then they could still make the trip in 3.40 while the cars sit steaming in the traffic.

Imagine how many people would switch from car to bus then. Imagine the saving in oil and pollution!

There won't be interstate bus lanes with the Republicans running the Department of Transportation and the regulatory commissions. But this is something (please God, please) President Obama can do on January 21. Is there any good reason not to?