California Prius Drivers May Lose HOV Access

[Danny]

A new story entry has been added:

California Prius Drivers May Lose HOV Access

It doesn't look good for the future of solo-driven Priuses in California carpool lanes. The stickers granting that privilege to 85,000 hybrid owners are set to expire Jan. 1, 2011. There are proposals to extend the deadline, but they would exclude most of the vehicles that originally qualified for the program, such as the Toyota Prius, the Honda Civic hybrid and the original Honda Insight.

[Soylent]

Was there a cap at 85,000, or is that the total number of applicants?

[scotty321]

It's ridiculous. I live in Los Angeles, the traffic is horrendous, but the real solution is A REAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.

We're the largest city in the nation yet we have no public transportation, except for an unreliable and shrinking bus system. But the city doesn't seem to be moving too quickly on the idea of public transportation.

At one point in the 1950's, we had some of the best public transportation in the country, but it was bought out and dismantled by General Motors. This is explained in the documentary "Taken For A Ride", available for viewing here: Taken for a Ride

[Ogo]

Maybe it is now time to dismantle General Motors and build some public transit there ...

Otherwise I agree. Been in LA for a week as a tourist and yes you really need to rent a car there to get somewhere. So I did.

Which is the opposite what I would do in Paris or London.

[ceric]

I am all for raising the threshold to 65mpg and beyond for the new stickers.
By raising the limit, it encourages new technology (such as Plug-in) to be more attractive to consumers. Its funny to me that Toyota/Ford are against raising the limit since they have no vehicle that qualifies, while GM is all for it (same time frame as Volt's release). I don't recall that Toyota was against the yellow stickers (45mpg threshold) - only Honda Civic/Insight and Prius qualified. It is just business. Not about right or wrong.

[inventor00]

It was originally capped at 75,000 but they added another 10,000 (so 85,000).
We will miss it....and yes I was quoted" I was bummed"..

[hill]

There's no "CA Prius Drivers May Lose HOV Access" about it. The legislation was written with a sunset clause, and just like getting old ... eventually it expires. The way the bill was written, one can truly say, "CA Prius Drivers SHALL Lose HOV Access" on the appointed day set in the regulation.

It'll be a drag that I won't get to save some time now & then ... but hey ... do you REALLY want to drive solo in the car pool lane? You legally still can. Simply convert your Prius to straight natural gas ... or pull the ICE all together & convet the Prius to straight EV. There a a bunch of Crown Vic's running around by LAX & John Wayne Airports that run solo / deadhead in their taxis and airport shuttle vans simply because they'e on natural gas. You can STILL get the white stickers ... and THEY aren't set to expire ... at least not yet.

.

[darelldd]

Originally Posted by hill

There's no "CA Prius Drivers May Lose HOV Access" about it.

Your reasons are valid... and here's another:
CA Prius Drivers can STILL use the HOV lane. They'll just also have to be a carpool. Surprise!

You can STILL get the white stickers ... and THEY aren't set to expire ... at least not yet.

You can still get them... but they're currently set to expire at the same time as the yellows. It would appear that white will be extended, however.

[Rybold]

I'm all for the 65mpg requirement because the current HOV requirement was created almost a decade ago (well, it seems like it). It's about time we update and increase the requirement to continue to drive innovation. ...But will Volkswagen/Audi's lobbyists be knocking on California's door and demanding that the non-hybrid TDI's receive an HOV sticker also?

More appropriately though, I think the requirement needs to be stair-stepped. For 2011, the law should say "50mpg or more and you receive a sticker that is good for five years." For 2012, the law says "55mpg or more..." For 2013, "60mpg or more..." And so on.

[wvgasguy]

Are the lanes to save gas or reward people with hybrids? Looks like it would make more sence to have SUV's in these lanes rather than the Prius anyway. The Prius will get good FE while sitting in traffic. Need to keep the SUV's moving.