In a Northern California first, work is under way to install double carpool lanes in both directions on a freeway.

The new lanes will be built along a three-mile stretch of Highway 101 between Highway 85 in Mountain View and Embarcadero Road in Palo Alto.

Along with merging lanes also being built, the new look will turn this section into one of the widest in the region, with 12 lanes. And all the extra asphalt also offers a glimpse into our commuting future.

The widening sets the stage for more toll lanes, including a second set of carpool lanes up and down 101 from Morgan Hill to the San Mateo County border.

In the next year or two, the eastbound Interstate 580 carpool lane in the Tri-Valley will be widened to include two toll lanes, also known as express lanes. And by 2015, a second set of carpool lanes could line Highway 85 through the Almaden Valley area of South San Jose.

Currently, there are double carpool lanes only on the approaches to the toll plazas at the San Mateo and Bay bridges, but none on area freeways except for short stretches where two carpool lanes merge at interchanges.

"All else equal, two lanes per direction makes for a better (toll) lane than one per direction," said Bob Poole, transportation director of the Reason Foundation think tank. "You can pass slow vehicles, be more flexible in case of a breakdown or accident, etc.

"And you can charge a lower toll if you have two lanes to accommodate paying customers instead of one."

Highway 101 ranks as one of the toughest commutes in the South Bay, and the stretch from Shoreline Boulevard north to Palo Alto is perhaps the nastiest. As the economy improves and more drivers join the commute, traffic jams will only get worse.

But a second set of carpool and merging lanes could ease the frequent lane changing that contributes mightily to slowdowns on this freeway. Motorists often slow to speeds under 20 mph as they approach their exits, leading trailing drivers to slam on their brakes.

"It's scary," said Megan Vaughn, 29, of San Jose. "I've seen people in the carpool lane literally stop when trying to move over for their exit. I hope a second carpool lane would bring an end to this."

Added Ed Mullen, a 51-year-old accountant from Mountain View: "The ride home is usually heavy or stop-and-go. A lot of the time the HOV lane is only moving slightly better than the rest of us, so I would guess there are enough frustrated drivers that would pay to move a little quicker."

Despite a decline in overall carpooling nationwide over the past two decades, diamond lanes on some Bay Area freeways -- including 101, I-80 and I-880 -- are filling up. It's common, engineers and commuters say, to find carpool traffic barely moving faster than lanes filled by solo drivers.

Bound by federal mandates to keep carpool-lane speeds flowing at 45 mph or faster, traffic planners say they have few choices to ease commutes and raise the money to pay for more road work. They can require carpools to contain three people instead of two, or they can add a second carpool lane.

"Increasing the occupancy requirement may be the logical solution if adding a second carpool lane is inappropriate," said Caltrans' Joseph Rouse, who oversees carpool lanes in the state. "However, going from two-plus to three-plus (occupants) may reduce vehicular demand by 75 to 85 percent. Such an adjustment may be too severe if

only a 10 percent to 20 percent reduction is necessary to maintain free-flow conditions."

As usual, Southern California is ahead of the Bay Area in testing the new approach. There are double carpool lanes on I-5 for a couple of miles south of I-405 in Orange County, and on I-110 in Los Angeles from I-105 to south of downtown Los Angeles. And there are projects under way to add double carpool lanes on I-10 and along more of I-110 in Los Angeles.

There are also two express lanes in each direction on Route 91 in Orange County, with an extension planned into Riverside County. And there are two express lanes in each direction on I-15 north of San Diego.

Not all freeways will get a second carpool lane, usually because there isn't room to add more than one. That's the case on I-880 through San Jose, where a carpool lane is being added, and on I-80 east of the Bay Bridge.

The widening of I-880 in the South Bay will run from Highway 237 almost to 101, with major changes scheduled for the Brokaw Road interchange. A carpool lane will be added on the southbound onramp and the merge lane extended 700 feet.

On the northbound side, the ramps will be shifted 70 feet east and there will be two lanes to turn left and two more to turn right. The tight, curvy two-lane ramp to north 880 will be smoothed out.

A new report on Tuesday said that Facebook Inc.'s    Facebook Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Follow this company recent acquisitions could delay its initial public offering until after Memorial Day, may as late as mid-June.

Reuters cited an unnamed source who said buying photo-sharing site Instagram for $1 billion and acquiring a bundle of AOL patents from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) will add about a week to Facebook's IPO timetable.

That is because the Menlo Park-based social network will have to talk over the impact of those deals with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company had been expected to go public on May 17 or May 24, in an effort to debut before the holiday.

Apple, Cisco Systems, Google, VMware and Kaiser Permanente    Kaiser Permanente Latest from The Business Journals Follow this company had the most jobs posted for Silicon Valley positions in March help wanted ads, according to a monthly report from state labor officials.

The report from the Labor Market Information Division of the Employment Development Department showed thousands of ads for registered nurses and a variety of tech jobs, including computer software application engineers, Web developers, marketing managers, computer systems analysts, and software engineers and testers.

In the San Jose metro region, Cisco listed 1,482 jobs, Apple had 1,378, VMware had 856 and Google had 780. Salesforce listed 779 jobs in the San Mateo-San Francisco region.

Kaiser listed about 1,048 jobs in the Oakland-Fremont-Hayward area.

The Cybercoders tech recruiting service listed more than 1,200 positions in the San Jose and San Francisco-San Mateo metros.

The spotlight is shining on Silicon Valley’s business software companies Friday, with both Sunnyvale-based Proofpoint and Santa Clara-based Infoblox posting successful IPOs.

Proofpoint rang the Nasdaq opening bell, while Infoblox rang its counterpart on the New York Stock Exchange.

Proofpoint CEO Gary Steele said it’s “been an exciting day” that marks a “very important milestone in the company’s history.”

“You can walk out to Times Square and you can see Proofpoint banners and Proofpoint videos playing on the jumbotron,” he said when I caught up with him briefly by phone Friday morning.

Proofpoint’s stock closed at $14.08, up 8.31 percent from its initial price of $13. The company sold 6.3 million shares in the offering and raised $82 million.

Infoblox’s stock, originally priced at $16, closed up 33 percent at $21.30. The company sold 7.5 million shares, raising $120 million.

Both companies exceeded their target fundraising by healthy margins.

The Bay Area is seeing more improvement than other markets nationwide, but its lack of inventory is a problem, according to Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage for the San Francisco Bay Area. Turley recently told Silicon Valley agents they need to educate their clients about the real story behind their local markets.

"We have a dearth of listings everywhere. Inventory is the lowest it's been in four to five years in every county," Turley told members of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors.

Turley said the market is heating up but hampered by very low inventory, which have resulted in numerous multiple offers. Places like San Francisco have a mere three months supply of inventory. A healthy market has at least four to six months supply of inventory, said Turley.

"Inventory is what is going to put a cap on what we do this year," said Turley.

Turley also observed that the Facebook factor and improved employment picture in Silicon Valley has led to a shift in buying patterns of San Francisco's younger buyers, who now prefer properties in the Mission District, Potrero Hill areas, places that are closer to their employers in the valley.

The lack of inventory in the Bay Area has much to do with confusion among consumers, according to Turley. He suggested more one-on-one conversations with clients to let them know that while it is a good time to buy a home, it is also a good time to sell a home. With the low inventory and growing demand, Turley noted "sellers have an advantage not just in price, but in terms that can be favorable to them." Some buyers are proposing free rent-backs, waiving contingencies and are even willing to purchase homes as is, he said.

Turley's remarks echo those of the California Association of Realtors, which has indicated home buyers in most of California's markets are experiencing multiple offers, even for distressed and foreclosed properties. According to the state group's data, sales of bank-owned homes are closing in an average of less than 60 days, and often above the list price, without government intervention.

New research into the world's top startup hubs shows once again why Silicon Valley remains the global hub of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Startups here raise more money, have a bigger ecosystem to tap into, are more successful, create more jobs and are more likely to be designed to change the world than simply make money.

So says the Startup Genome Project, a research effort begun last year that aims to help make startups more successful.

The results of the comparison of the world's top startup locations was published Wednesday on TechCrunch.

It's interesting to note because there has been a groundswell of stories recently talking about whether startups really need to be located in Silicon Valley.

While the advantages here are shrinking a bit, they are still formidable.

Key points:

— The support system for startups in Silicon Valley is three times bigger than New York City, 4.5 times bigger than London, 12.5 times bigger than Berlin, and 38 times bigger than Boulder.

— That raises the likelihood of success. Silicon Valley startups succeed (defined as reaching scale stage) 22 percent more than they do in New York City and 54 percent more than in London.

— There is more money raised by startups here, 2 to 3 times more than anywhere else.

— Startups create more jobs here: 11 more than in New York and 38 percent more than in London.

— The reason for starting up a company in Silicon Valley is 30 percent more likely than anywhere else to be trying to change the world. New Yorkers are 50 percent more likely to be primarily trying to make a good living and Londoners are twice as likely to be looking to flip their business for a good profit.

— Don't bother coming here is you aren't ready to work hard. Silicon Valley startup crews put in 35 percent more hours than those in New York. Average work day here is 9.5 hours, versus 8 hours in London and 7 in NYC.

— Valley startups are ready to turn on a dime. So-called "pivots" where the original business model is tossed for a new one happens 45 percent more on average in Silicon Valley than in New York City and 33 percent more than in London.

There are more conclusions that can be found at the Startup Genome blog, which you find by clicking here.

But in the end, it would appear that Silicon Valley is unquestionably the place to be if you have an idea for a startup that you think may change the world. But be ready to work hard and get ready to adapt quickly.

The 10 most active startup ecosystems in the world, according to the research, are:

1. Silicon Valley (actually more like the Bay Area since they throw in San Francisco and Oakland, along with the San Jose and Palo Alto metro areas).

2. New York City.

3. London.

4. Toronto.

5. Tel Aviv.

6. Los Angeles.

7. Singapore.

8. Sao Paolo.

9. Bangalore.

10. Moscow.

Other U.S. cities that made the list include Seattle at No. 13, Chicago at No. 15, Boston at 18, Austin at 19 and Washington, D.C. at No. 24.

Even as China emerges as a super power, many of those who have benefited most from the country's economic rise are heading for the exits. And many are relocating to the Bay Area, whose large Asian population, good schools and comfortable lifestyle are powerful draws for Chinese multimillionaires concerned about the future of their homeland and seeking the own American dream.

"The rich people are trying to get green cards," said Ta-lin Hsu, founder and chairman of Palo Alto-based venture capital firm H&Q Asia Pacific, who spends a lot of time in Asia. He is frequently asked by business associates about how to immigrate to the United States.

"The main reason is, they still worry about the future stability of China," Hsu said. "The U.S. is a democracy, there is freedom and it's a safer place."

The exit door for many of these wealthy Chinese is opened by the fast-track visas America offers for well-heeled immigrants. Known as the EB-5, the visa requires applicants to invest $500,000 in projects in economically struggling regions or $1 million in a commercial venture in other locations. The investments must create or preserve 10 jobs for two years. If successful, the applicants and their families -- spouses and children younger than 21 -- are awarded permanent residency.

The foreign money is a welcome source of funding for many projects. Oakland city officials, for example, have eyed the program to help pay for a project that includes hotels, a convention center, shops and new facilities for the Raiders and Warriors and possibly a new A's ballpark.

In recent years, as the number of China's millionaires has grown, interest in the program from across the Pacific has soared.

Between 1992 and 2011, the number of applications for investor visas jumped 700 percent, from 474 to 3,805, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. In the past two years alone, the number applicants has nearly quadrupled. More applications by far come from China than any other country. Last year, 77 percent of all of those who applied for these visas were Chinese.

"They are standing in line," said Scott Bachman, CEO of San Mateo-based eBee5. His company helps pair large development projects with wealthy Chinese looking to invest in the United States.

"When I go to China, I get a Chinese cellphone and I am constantly bombarded with EB-5 (advertising) text messages," said Kevin Wright, a consultant with offices in the United States and China.

A survey of 980 Chinese millionaires published last fall by the Bank of China and the Hurun Report, which tracks the country's wealthy, revealed that 46 percent of them were thinking about leaving China, while an additional 14 percent were filling out immigration paperwork or had already left the country.

"The Chinese government is definitely worried," said one successful EB-5 applicant, who relocated his family from Beijing to Los Altos Hills after initially moving to Texas, where he invested in a metal processing factory. The man, who asked that he only be identified as Mr. Zhang, did not want to reveal his full identity because he still does business in China and does not want to upset powerful government officials.

Indeed, most Chinese who come to the United States on these visas strive to remain under-the-radar, particularly those doing business in China, whose laws forbid transferring more than $50,000 a year out of the country.

Many Americans, bruised by the long recession and its painful aftermath, worry about the United States being eclipsed by China. But many successful Chinese complain about China's pervasive corruption, polluted air, contaminated food and educational system that stresses memorization over creative thinking.

"The United States looks like a pretty good option to them," said San Francisco immigration attorney Robert Gaffney, a specialist in EB-5 visas who is fluent in Mandarin. "It's a quality of life decision for them. They are voting with their pocketbook: They'd rather be here than in their own country."

The money of these deep-pocket immigrants is highly valued in this country at a time investment funds can still be tough to acquire for some development projects.

"Local financing is just not available, or it's very hard to come by, especially for construction," said Katie Yao with Sand Hill Property, a Redwood City developer that is planning to build a hotel across the street from the yet-to-be-built new Apple campus in Cupertino.

So far, the company has found one Chinese investor interested in backing the project with a $1 million stake, with the hope of getting an EB-5 visa.

"We are only trying to raise $20 million -- that means 20 (Chinese) families," she said. "We offer 6 percent returns and profit-sharing."

By China's boom-time standards -- which often reward investors with returns of 100 percent or more -- the Cupertino hotel project hardly seems worth their interest, she admitted. However, Yao added, "People want to find a shelter for their money, someplace safe."

The investor visa, which began in 1992, will expire in September unless Congress reauthorizes it, but experts expect that to happen.

"It has enjoyed bipartisan support," said Peter Joseph, executive director for the Association to Invest In the USA, a trade group that lobbies Congress. "It's about creating jobs without spending anything from the public purse."

Indeed, the risks are borne by the immigrant investors, San Jose immigration attorney Acton Yang said.

"The EB-5 requires a risky investment," he said. "It can't be investing in a security. You can't just buy a house. It has to be a risky investment that will generate employment in the United States."

And if investors put money in something that fails -- say, a shopping center in a troubled neighborhood -- they stand to lose more than their cash, noted consultant Bachman. "If the business is dead, they not only lose their money, they lose their visas," he said.

Still, many wealthy Chinese are willing to place such bets if they trust those they are doing business with, said Zhang, whose wife and two children live in their gated Los Altos Hills home while he splits his time between China and Silicon Valley.

The number of people in China who can make a $1 million investment "is huge," he said. "I am the captain of my golf team, 40 people. More than half of them can make a $1 million investment just like that.

"The Chinese have full confidence in the United States," he added. "It will come back. That's why, from an investment perspective, there are a lot of opportunities here. At least a dozen people around me want to come here. They have the economic power. They have the means."

Six-Figure Silicon Valley

In Silicon Valley, annual tech salaries topped six figures for the first time since the survey began about a decade ago. The highest in the nation, Silicon Valley’s annual salary of $104,195, increased five percent year/year. In addition, bonuses are both fatter and more frequent in Silicon Valley – with 38 percent of tech professionals receiving bonuses at an average of $12,450.

While the Valley’s resurgence is well documented, other tech markets did exceptionally well too. In fact, 12 of the top 20 cities for tech jobs had above average wage growth. The largest: Austin, Texas with a 13 percent jump in pay to average $89,419. Portland, Oregon showed an annual wage increase of 12 percent to $82,055; Houston saw seven percent growth ($89,307); and Washington D.C. experienced nearly six percent growth ($94,317).

Chicago and Seattle each garnered five percent increases in average tech salaries, Denver and Dallas/Ft. Worth managed four percent growth, while New York, Los Angeles and Raleigh, North Carolina each increased three percent.

“Conventional wisdom says that as Silicon Valley goes, so goes the tech world. That’s true, and Silicon Valley is going well, but it doesn’t tell the entire story when it comes to tech employment,” added Mr. Silver. “Nationally, we’re seeing stiffer competition and higher salaries for tech pros with the right skill sets and the right experience level.”

Difference Makers: Skills and Experience 

While salaries are on the rise among technology professionals, entry-level salaries continue to be pushed downward, according to the survey. The professionals who generally saw their wages increase were those with 11 or more years of experience in their field.

The skills that commanded six-figure salaries and had above average year/year growth are:

	2011 Average Salary	Yr/Yr Growth
ABAP – Advanced Business Application Programming	$109,157	3%
SOA -Service Oriented Architecture	$108,210	6%
ETL – Extract Transform and Load	$106,521	6%
Weblogic	$103,702	5%
JDBC-Java Database Connectivity	$102,630	5%
UML-Unified Modeling Language	$102,579	6%
JBoss	$102,184	5%
WebSphere	$100,348	7%

 

“This looks like a push towards enterprise java — with WebSphere, JBoss and WebLogic showing outsized gains,” said Alice Hill, Managing Director, Dice.com. “Not to mention, a continuation of the trends we’ve seen toward tech professionals helping their companies gain more insight into their cost structures, customer behavior and emerging trends. If tech professionals spark companies to win by harnessing their data, that’s when the tech department is no longer seen as a cost center, but a strategic partner in meeting companies’ goals.”

This is another data point that Silicon Valley is recovering better than the rest of the country. The compensation levels will translate into further improvements of real estate markets. The competition for the most desirable locations like Palo Alto, Los Altos and Mountain View will get even more fierce than what we were observing over the course of 2011. If you are thinking about selling your home, there is no reason to wait. Low inventories and dramatic improvements in job market coupled with record low interest rates will enable you to get top dollar for your property here in the Valley.