gavriil

California May Allow Single-occupancy Hybrids in Carpool Lane

just-sites.com - October 3, 2003

The State of California has requested authority from the US Secretary of Transportation to allow hybrid vehicles to drive in High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV), or carpool, lanes with only a single occupant. State officials, treasurer Phil Angelides, Caltrans director Jeff Morales and California Environmental Protection Agency secretary Winston Hickox jointly announced the proposal in a teleconference.

Eligible vehicles would include fuel cell vehicles and petrol/electric hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Hondas Insight and Civic Hybrid.

"We've worked very hard on a state and national level to encourage the use of hybrid vehicles like the Prius and we hope many more states follow suit by allowing hybrids with one occupant to drive in the HOV lane," said Toyota Motor Sales, USA chief operating officer Jim Press. "For any driver stuck in traffic, this would be the equivalent of a 'get out of jail free' card."

"If this plan is enacted, it would allow [hybrid] owners to drive down the highway knowing they're getting high fuel [economy], helping improve air quality and reducing traffic congestion all at the same time," said Press. "It would be terrific if the HOV lanes became known as Hybrid-Occupancy Vehicle lanes."

charliemike

I think they already do this in Virginia.

If I was on the fence about a Prius and lived in the suburbs, this would put me over the top.

CrockPot

my wife works for corporate toyota, and this info comes from her...the purchase of a new prius allows you to drive in the carpool lane by yourself.

gavriil

Arnold gives hybrids the fast lane - - - Source: The Car Connection



Arnold gives hybrids the fast lane

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week endorsed a new law that would permit solo drivers of some gasoline-electric hybrids to use carpool lanes throughout the state. Currently, the state's carpool lanes can only be used by vehicles carrying two or more people, motorcycles, or any "zero-emission" vehicle (which includes electric and compressed natural gas) regardless of occupants. The bill, which proposes to expand permission to any hybrid that can achieve overall mileage ratings of 45 mpg or higher, in its present language would likely not include upcoming hybrid versions of the Lexus RX, Toyota Highlander, and Ford Escape sport-utility vehicles, although small-car hybrids like the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, and Honda Insight would be included. The expanded carpool-lane allowance would help reduce air pollution and encourage energy dependence, explained the bill's advocates, as cited in the Los Angeles Times. According to the Times, California has 1112 miles of carpool lanes, about 40 percent of the U.S. total, and the state plans to nearly double that the number of miles by 2030. In order to use the lanes, drivers would have to get a special sticker at the DMV.

charliemike

I think this defeats the purpose of HOV lanes. The Kaliban already has problems with horrific traffic and now they're going to let a car with one person in it use the HOV lanes?

Not smart.

95gt

Totally agree. if you are going to start doing that then I want a preferential lane if i drive my CL over someone driving a SUV. The whole point of the lanes is to get cars off the roads not to take care of using less gas.

Stupid

Edit: this always pisses me off about Motorcycles being allowed to use it. Same issue as above

Sarlacc

They do already do this in Cali, you have to get a sticker for you car. those guys and motorcycles can use HOV

NSX-Tuner

I wish they would just get rid of these carpool lanes all together. Where I live, I can remember when they temporarily removed the carpool lanes on a certain freeway for 6 months because of some new construction. Traffic immediately started to flow so much easier and there were far less traffic accidents (down 90%) over that 6 month period. As soon as they reimposed the carpool lanes, traffic returned to where it was previously, 10 to 20 minute delays and a sharp rise in accidents.

IMO - carpool lanes:
1) Waste gas
2) Cause a lot more accidents and loss of life
3) Cost local economies billions of $ per year
4) Are only used by a small number of cars; maybe 10% where I live.
5) Impratical unless the infrastructure is in place to support them and people's work circumstances make sense to take advantage.

Moog-Type-S

Carpool lanes are a FAILURE!! Make that oversized lane into two more lanes...and traffic will flow better.

heyitsme

.

subtledreamer

nice although the carpool lanes in los angeles are often as slow anyway

TSX Hokie

Why should a hybrid Escape or Accord that gets <35 MPG get special privileges when a Volkswagon TDI or regular Civic getting 40 MPG gets nothing?

I think the ~10% most fuel efficient vehicles sold should get tax breaks/HOV privileges, regardless of the technology they use to get there.

EDIT: Can I rig a tiny electric motor from a remote control car to act as a 'hybrid drive' in a 8 MPG Hummer and drive in the HOV lane?

corey415

The hybrid must get > 45mpg. Henceforth the hybrid Escape and hybrid Accord do not qualify.

The only cars that qualify are the Hybrid Insight, Civic, and Toyota Prius.

I agree though that there are fuel efficient non hybrid cars that should similar benefits.

Also, natural gas cars can drive in the HOV lane as well.

Moog-Type-S

Brilliant law!!!

As the low poluting high mileage cars zoom by in the Carpool lane, the high poluting low mileage cars burn massive amounts of fuel and ruin the environment while stopped in bumper to bumper traffic.

This law will work as well as the Carpool lane idea worked.
Carpool lanes were created to entice people to rideshare to reduce traffic.
Never worked. A vast majority of people still ride solo in their commute.
Being able to ride solo in the carpool lane is not going to entice people to by hybrids in droves.

TSX69

Hybrid Ownders Howl as Cali HOV Lane Access End in Dec

All good things must come to an end, and it's the same with the wildwood weed ... err, with California's HOV-Lane access perk for owners of three hybrids: the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid, and Honda Insight. They are set to expire on December 31 of this year.

Originally passed in 2005, the law opened California's high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, restricted to carpools, to a limited number of very low-emission vehicles even if there was just a single person in the car.

THe law's goal was to give buyers an incentive to trade in their old cars for a far more fuel-efficient Toyota Prius (any year), Honda Civic Hybrid (any year), or original Honda Insight (1999-2006).

85,000 stickers only

And it worked. California set the number of stickers at 75,000, and they were all allocated in less than a year. A further allotment of 10,000 was similarly snapped up at the start of 2007. Though the process was cumbersome, the stickers cost just $8 apiece.

Last year, Audatex (which automates insurance-claim processing) calculated that a used hybrid with a permit was worth $1,200 to $1,500 more than one without. With the end in sight, we expect that value would be substantially lower today.

No longer for sale

But several hybrid owners told San Jose's popular Roadshow editor Gary Richards that they'd spend $500 to hang onto their stickers past the expiration. (He reports on Bay Area transportation news.) That's an unlikely scenario, though.

Federal highway officials says congestion in carpool lanes is increasing throughout California, Richards writes. Ending access for single-occupancy vehicles would speed the ride for more people--trading off incremental gains in fuel efficiency and air quality for moving more bodies.

Other Prius perks in peril?

HOV-Lane access is one of a number of so-called Prius Perks offered to drivers of high-mileage hybrids. As we noted last summer, in what became the single best-read article of our entire year's most popular posts, those perks are now also in peril from technology change.

In years to come, such privileges may be transferred from increasingly common hybrids to the newer class of plug-in vehicles, which run some of their miles using grid power rather than any gasoline at all. Examples are the 2011 Chevrolet Volt, 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-In Hybrid, and the 2012 Nissan Leaf.

biker

It will be interesting to see if this trend to eliminate the hybrid perks is carried across the nation, what happens to hybrid sales.

majin ssj eric

I hate liberals so much....

subinf

That sucks. Makes the east bay commute so much easier.

CL6

Good. These suckers shouldn't get a free pass. If they want to help the environment carpool, take the bus, or use Bart.

subinf

Bart is pretty limited. So are buses. Driving is easier.

CL6

Then carpool or live 1 mile from work like I do and walk every day. Like driving alone? That's fine too... just wait in traffic like everybody else.

subinf

Not everyone can live in a VW bus.

CL6

At least it's not down by the river.

FutureBagdA4

I think that very wealthy people should be able to buy some sort of "HOV pass" that allows them to use it at their discretion. I guarantee you at a fee of $5,000 per year, plenty of people in CA would buy it.

I know people who bought Priuses solely for use of the HOV lane (in addition to very nice exotics in the garage, etc.). This seems like a better solution for resolving some of CA's budget issues, and still allows the wealthy to drive nicer cars instead of having to drive a Toyota...

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Hybrid sucks, period.

Get diesel.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

CL6

There are already Lexus Lanes in Socal. I took one once near San Diego.

I sold a few hybrids that had the stickers on them for more than ones which did not have the stickers. Thing is, the state actually loses money on hybrids because they pay less gasoline tax per mile driven and also drive more miles per gallon, thus increasing wear on the roads. In some states there are going to be taxes on hybrids to cover this cost! I think Michigan is one such state.

TSX69

Prius & Other Hybrids Lose Cali CarPool Lane Access 2day

Back in line with the unwashed masses, you Prius folks. You, too, Honda Insight drivers. In fact, all you yellow-stickered, solo-driving, HOV-using people are just like everybody else on California highways, starting today.

After years of smugly wheeling down the high-occupancy vehicle (carpool) lanes all by your lonesomes, while other users had to have a passenger or 2, you hybrid pilots lose the perk.

The California DMV says: "On July 1, 2011 hybrid vehicles carrying the yellow sticker will no longer be allowed to operate in an HOV/carpool lane unless the minimum passenger requirements are met. This expiration date will not be extended…"

That yellow sticker allowing traffic-jam-skirting solo passage in the HOV lanes was a big draw. In fact, once California quit issuing new stickers, the prices of older Priuses, Insights, Escape hybrids and the like that already had the stickers rose higher than new versions of those hybrids, whose owners no longer could get the stickers.

Call it a case of no good deed going unpunished. California decided that motorists trying to do their bit by stretching a gallon of gasoline and reducing emissions no longer needed incentives.

But, the state says, people considering newer technologies that might save even more fuel and emit even fewer pollutants could use a hand.

So, DMV says: "A new Green HOV sticker program will be in effect as of January 1, 2012 to promote the use of the next generation of hybrid and other technologies." Some vehicles already on the market -- typically electrics and natural-gas-fueled vehicles -- can qualify for white stickers that provide HOV solo-occupant use until Jan.1, 2015.

So trade that old Prius for the likes of a modified-for-California Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric, Nissan Leaf battery car, or a plug-in hybrid, and jump back into the HOV lanes when you're flying solo.

Because driving that previously privileged Prius, stuck in traffic behind the Hummers, Navigators and Escalades of the world, surely is going to sting.

CarbonGray Earl

...And now all they have is a nasty looking decal on their car that they'll have trouble taking off.

biker

I assume this will help the sales of the NG Civic.

It would be intersting to see the sales trend of hybrids in CA for the months around this change and see just how many of the sales were related to HOV use.

Costco

The HOV lane is bullshit anyways.... just another money maker for the state of CA.

In the world of $4+/gal gas and thousands of dollars worth of rebates for hybrids, who the hell wouldn't carpool/get a hybrid?



And now, the LE agencies will make just a little more money for a while from unsuspecting hybrid owners. Just in time to compensate for the sales tax reduction.

off to R&P!

TSX69

Natural Gas Powered Civics Can Drive in the CarPool Lane

American Honda Motor Company is currently the only manufacturer in the United States building and selling a dedicated compressed natural gas-powered vehicle: the Civic GX. Because of its massive efficiency and inherently low emissions, the GX qualifies for White Clean Air decals not to mention benefits from the added savings of a natural gas-powered vehicle. On top of that, drivers of the older 98 to 2011 Civic GX as well as the upcoming 2012 model will be able to drive in California’s High Occupancy Vehicle, otherwise known as the carpool lane, until January of 2015.

“Civic GX drivers in California have long enjoyed the benefits of driving a compressed natural gas vehicle, whether it was saving time commuting in the carpool lane, paying lower fuel prices, reducing dependence on oil or reducing their CO2 footprint,” said Elmer Hardy, senior manager of alternative fuel marketing at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. For 2012, Honda is stepping up its game with the next generation natural gas Civic. The new model will achieve 12.5% better fuel economy over the previous GX which obtained an average of 31 mpg. Also new for 2012 is the Civic’s center display, which will allow drivers to select different driving modes.