Hybrids With Stickers Getting Kicked Out of HOV Lane

[HOVer]

I saw this article today on the LA Times blog and on the NC Times website:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007..._396_19_07.txt



State tries to free up car-pool lanes; California's hybrid policy triggers federal requirement to keep lanes open

By: DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer

Under pressure from the federal government, California transportation officials said Tuesday they will devise a strategy by the end of August to free up clogged car-pool lanes.

Measures could include adjusting the hours that the car-pool requirement is in effect, stepping up California Highway Patrol enforcement, allowing continuous access into the lanes and limiting access to hybrids on congested freeways, said Tamie McGowen, a Caltrans spokeswoman in Sacramento.

On Friday, the Federal Highway Administration told the California Department of Transportation the state is out of compliance with federal law because it has allowed lanes to become congested, state officials said.

Car-pool lanes were intended to give commuters who double up a smooth ride. The federal agency considers lanes to be congested -- and out of compliance -- when minimum speeds drop below 45 mph more than 10 percent of the time.

Formerly, California did not have to live up to that standard. That changed when the state began letting solo drivers of gas-electric hybrids into the lanes in late 2005, McGowen said, in a phone interview. She said the Federal Transportation Act is invoked when hybrids are involved.

"The good news is that people are using the car-pool lanes," McGowen said.

California has issued 85,000 car-pool-lane stickers to owners of Honda Insights and Civics, and Toyota Priuses, which get 45 miles per gallon or more.

Despite the surge of interest in hybrids, they are not to blame for congestion in car-pool lanes, McGowen said.

"The increasing population is a huge factor in this," she said. "And the bottom line is that the number of vehicle miles traveled is increasing faster than the population."

In Los Angeles and Orange counties, congestion in car-pool lanes has become a serious problem. Officials say it is rare in San Diego and Riverside counties.

John Standiford, a spokesman for the Riverside County Transportation Commission, said car-pool traffic often backs up on Highway 91 in Corona, but elsewhere ride sharers enjoy free flow.

Garry Bonelli, a spokesman for the San Diego Association of Governments, said congestion has yet to surface on the eight miles of car-pool lanes on Interstate 15, which double as toll lanes for paying solo commuters.

Bonelli said the transportation agency is hopeful that it will be able to keep those lanes clear through strategic pricing of tolls. Charges range from 50 cents in light traffic to $8 in gridlock.

[subarutoo]

Last night I passed a couple of cars while I was in the carpool lane (west 210 east of Pasadena). When I got to my exit, 10 or 15 miles later, after working my way across 4 lanes to the ramp, one of the cars I remember passing was right next to me. Maybe the HOV is not such a big perk after all.

[Swanny1172]

I'm sorry, but I feel that HOV lanes should be reserved for high occupancy vehicles only. They are designed to reduce traffic by encouraging drivers to car pool. Letting single-occupant hybrids and EV's in these lanes does nothing to reduce traffic.

[uclabruins]

When I drive on the freeways in the Los Angeles/Orange Counties, I rarely see the carpool lanes clogged. Also, when I look at the other side of the freeway, there aren't too many solo drivers with the HOV stickers. What freeways are the carpool lanes being clogged due to the solo drivers with HOV stickers?

[Pinto Girl]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 20 2007, 03:00 PM) [snapback]465382[/snapback]</div>

I'm sorry, but I feel that HOV lanes should be reserved for high occupancy vehicles only. They are designed to reduce traffic by encouraging drivers to car pool. Letting single-occupant hybrids and EV's in these lanes does nothing to reduce traffic.
[/b]

I agree. I've always felt that there are enough other perks to driving a Prius, to the point that HOV lane usage wasn't necessary to entice me to buy one. I have the stickers (the rush to get them swept me up, and I thought that I'd be needing them), but have never applied them to my car for the reason above. In fact, I feel bad that I do have them, and someone who might use them more than I, doesn't.

The tax credit did help, however.

[mikepaul]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Swanny1172 @ Jun 20 2007, 04:00 PM) [snapback]465382[/snapback]</div>

I'm sorry, but I feel that HOV lanes should be reserved for high occupancy vehicles only. They are designed to reduce traffic by encouraging drivers to car pool. Letting single-occupant hybrids and EV's in these lanes does nothing to reduce traffic.
[/b]

They were designed to lower pollution by cutting down the number of cars on the road.

Lower-polluting hybrids were allowed in because they also did that job.

It's a shame the people who didn't understand why they used to whiz down near-empty HOV lanes are demanding those lanes be made empty again, and dopey politicians seem to be listening.

There is no Right To Get Home Faster just because you ride with someone else. Never was. It just looked that way...

[burritos]

Then should single driving motorcycles be excluded too by that logic?

[Swanny1172]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mikepaul @ Jun 20 2007, 04:44 PM) [snapback]465401[/snapback]</div>

They were designed to lower pollution by cutting down the number of cars on the road.

Lower-polluting hybrids were allowed in because they also did that job.

It's a shame the people who didn't understand why they used to whiz down near-empty HOV lanes are demanding those lanes be made empty again, and dopey politicians seem to be listening.

There is no Right To Get Home Faster just because you ride with someone else. Never was. It just looked that way...
[/b]

Funny, but the last time I checked, they were named High Occupancy Vehicle lanes -- not Low Emmission Vehicle lanes...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jun 20 2007, 04:45 PM) [snapback]465404[/snapback]</div>

Then should single driving motorcycles be excluded too by that logic?
[/b]

Yes, but it wouldn't matter because most of them create their own lane by driving on the shoulder anyway.

[Stev0]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(burritos @ Jun 20 2007, 03:45 PM) [snapback]465404[/snapback]</div>

Then should single driving motorcycles be excluded too by that logic?
[/b]

No, because you can't get higher occupancy than 100%. Even if it's a two-seater Harley, that's still 50% occupancy, the equivalent of two people in a normal car.

HOV lanes are built to relieve congestion (which is why they're called HOV and not Low Emissions Lanes). The fact that they cut down greenhouses gases is a plus, but it's not the main reason they're there.

[Jeffgb]

I used to live in Phoenix and, to pass the time while stuck in traffic, I would sometimes count the number of single-occupancy cars in the car pool lane that would go by before someone legally there did. I think my record was 17. But, every once in a while you would see someone pulled over and getting a ticket for this.

I moved from there to Miami and it was far far worse. Miami is the kind of place where turn signals are seen as a dangerous provocation to other drivers. HOV lanes there are a joke.