Archives

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg 85,000 have the permit - standards will probably be upgraded (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hybrid-stickers28-2009sep28,0,7786304.story)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Prius_hov_sticker.jpgMartin Zimmerman - LATIMES (http://www.latimes.com) - Sept 28, 2009

Limited to PHEVs and the Aptera from 2011 on? --Ed.

..."We're bummed," said Cathy Margolin, president of the 250-member Orange County Prius Club. "I drive from Newport Beach to Torrance to teach four times a week, and it saves me an hour every day on the 405."

For hybrid owners, losing their stickers would be more than an inconvenience. The carpool lane exemption added $1,000 to $2,000 to the value of a used hybrid. Some used-car dealers say they are already seeing that premium shrink as the deadline gets closer....http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hybrid-stickers28-2009sep28,0,7786304.story

I like the idea giving the stickers to 65 mpg vehicles. So when can I get one of those autos. Wonder if plug-in hybrids will get exemption.

HOV is HOV. Period.
The way to make the roads less congested is to carpool / use mass transit. if you are a single driver in a prius you are still taking up a car foot print for 1 person ( granted it is a pretty darn efficient use of fuel) but 4 guys in a FSP take up only 1 car foot print.

I do not think we need the "tricks" to get people to drive Hybrids anymore. people are starting to get it. let the HOV be as it was intended.

just my $0.02.

Allow motorcycles, and allow lane-splitting (called "filtering" in the UK). Motorcycles don't cause congestion, they are a good way of dealing with congestion.

My personal view is to not give hybrids any special treatment, but on the other hand to slam gas hogs with extra taxes.

Harry

HOV is HOV. Period.
The way to make the roads less congested is to carpool / use mass transit. if you are a single driver in a prius you are still taking up a car foot print for 1 person ( granted it is a pretty darn efficient use of fuel) but 4 guys in a FSP take up only 1 car foot print.

I do not think we need the "tricks" to get people to drive Hybrids anymore. people are starting to get it. let the HOV be as it was intended.

just my $0.02.

In some cases I can see the 4 people in the FSP having better eff.

Personally I don't like the program at all, but if it must be there then a minimum of 4 people in the vehicle should be enforced.

After pondering this awhile, I'm voting for a regular HOV lane - no exemptions for any type of vehicle.

The purpose of this perk has been served and it promotes hybrid hate.

Anyone going from freeway speed to stop-and-go can see what an FE hit that is. I take a 25% hit in Dallas when traffic slows from a collision, so less traffic seems the greenest thing.

How about NOT commuting 40 miles from Newport Beach, basically the bottom of LA metro to Torrance 4 times a week?

Currently the hybrid driver that chose a long commute benefits when living closer to work is always the better choice.

People with plenty of money such as this should have the option to pay a toll everytime they want to use that HOV lane it's called HOT High Occupancy and TOLL.

Denver and other places have found that HOV is way underutilized and HOT allows better utilization and an income stream from those willing to pay. The rate goes up as the HOT congestion increases limiting the willing customers. If gas ever does move more people to carpool the available paying costumers dwindles to nothing as the price becomes prohibitive, but until then the HOV doesn't go largely unused.

Getting 4 people to go to the same place at the same time is kinda hard. It's hard enough with 2, trickier with 3, and darn near impossible with 4. You have to live nearby each other and have a central place to congregate that's convenient for everybody. What with free parking disappearing all the time in suburbia and many companies offering free parking spaces, it makes a twisted sense to drive your own car to work just so you can park it for free.

Eliminating this is kinda smart, but if it's not replaced with easier carpooling it's silly. And eliminating another reason for buying a hybrid.

The purpose of HOV lanes is to maximize roadway capacity in terms of passengers per hour. Cleaner air is a secondary benefit, maybe a pretty important one in CA, but nevertheless not the reason there are HOV lanes.

Only if there is sufficient excess capacity should "clean" SOVs be allowed in the HOV lanes, , and my guess is that's rarely true at rush hour on most CA freeways. If this is done at all it should be a moving target based on keeping the lanes flowing freely, not some fixed criterion that clogs up the lanes as more people buy greener vehicles.