Turning Quadra Street curb lanes over to buses and other high-occupancy vehicles during rush hours is "a big-city idea whose time has come," says Victoria Mayor Dean Fortin.

Fortin noted Quadra is the third highest-used transit route in the city. Councillors agreed yesterday to have staff explore the idea of taking lanes where parking is restricted during rush hours and turning them into HOV lanes.

"It would allow for running a bus every four minutes during commuter time and certainly it would encourage people to get out of their single-occupancy cars," Fortin said.

Coun. John Luton, a cycling advocate, said he was happy to support the initiative but wanted to ensure an HOV lane would not squeeze out bicycles.

But Coun. Geoff Young said designating roads like Quadra for commuter traffic -- essentially turning them into freeways -- could hurt communities along the route.

Fortin countered that current parking restrictions have the same effect as HOV lanes would.

"All we're doing is just reserving that lane for buses and high-occupancy cars," Fortin said, adding people taking transit want reliability and speed.