Car Pool (HOV) sticker. When will they be issued again??

[rigormortis]

one can always hope that the 85,000 hybrid stickers expire in 2011 and are replaced with newer stickers that are even more harder to get.. heh

kind of like ummmm "my coke rewards!!!!"

[gunguy05]

What a load of crap. You have to buy??? HOV stickers for your car in California? In Atl. anyone can drive in the HOV lane... if they are truly a HOV. Seems like if you are in a Hybrid, then all Hybrids should be able to use the lane even w/o a sticker... guess not in the Communistfornia.

[rigormortis]

yeah i always thought it was a load of crap too, theres like 1 million motorcycles, none of which require stickers, but only like 100,000 or so prius cars

[Ct. Ken V]

Hey, mattattack & rigormortis,

These 85,000 stickers weren't just for Prius but for all qualifying hybrids on a first come, first served basis. They are "clean air vehicle stickers" (as Pat Wong pointed out), not Prius stickers. I suspect the reason they're not required for motorcycles (they ARE easily identifyable as such) & ARE required for the hybrids is because the hybrid cars are not as readily identifyable. Sure, many of us hybrid owners can easily spot a Honda Insight or Toyota Prius by their unique shapes, but the general public & some law enforcement are probably still not familiar enough with them even at this late time frame. So the stickers being on all 4 sides of the car tell everybody "Don't sweat it, this car is O.K. in the HOV lane". I have not forgotten about the Honda Civic, or the Ford Escape, Toyota Highlander, & Lexus SUV hybrids (which are not uniquely identifyable). Tell me how the public or law enforcement can easily tell if one of those in the HOV lane is O.K. or not when it's whizzing by & the only hybrid identification on most of them is a tiny emblem on the car's rear---that's why the stickers were issued [they're bigger & reflective (aren't they?)]. I don't think the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, or Lexus sedan hybrids were out yet when the stickers were still being issued, but those are 4 more hybrids that would be hard to identify as hybrids while on the fly.

As Godiva pointed out, there are still stickers available (but not the gold/yellow ones for the hybrids---just silver ones for hydrogen, natural gas, or all-electric cars). So maybe if some of you go for the Chevy Volt when it finally comes out in 2015 (he,he), there may still be some of the silver ones left for you.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[opus17]

Originally Posted by Ct. Ken V

Hey, mattattack & rigormortis,

These 85,000 stickers weren't just for Prius but for all qualifying hybrids on a first come, first served basis. They are "clean air vehicle stickers" (as Pat Wong pointed out), not Prius stickers. I suspect the reason they're not required for motorcycles (they ARE easily identifyable as such) & ARE required for the hybrids is because the hybrid cars are not as readily identifyable. Sure, many of us hybrid owners can easily spot a Honda Insight or Toyota Prius by their unique shapes, but the general public & some law enforcement are probably still not familiar enough with them even at this late time frame. So the stickers being on all 4 sides of the car tell everybody "Don't sweat it, this car is O.K. in the HOV lane". I have not forgotten about the Honda Civic, or the Ford Escape, Toyota Highlander, & Lexus SUV hybrids (which are not uniquely identifyable). Tell me how the public or law enforcement can easily tell if one of those in the HOV lane is O.K. or not when it's whizzing by & the only hybrid identification on most of them is a tiny emblem on the car's rear---that's why the stickers were issued [they're bigger & reflective (aren't they?)]. I don't think the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord, Nissan Altima, or Lexus sedan hybrids were out yet when the stickers were still being issued, but those are 4 more hybrids that would be hard to identify as hybrids while on the fly.

As Godiva pointed out, there are still stickers available (but not the gold/yellow ones for the hybrids---just silver ones for hydrogen, natural gas, or all-electric cars). So maybe if some of you go for the Chevy Volt when it finally comes out in 2015 (he,he), there may still be some of the silver ones left for you.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

Only the Insight, Prius and Civic Hybrids made the cut -- no other hybrid was able to get a yellow sticker in California.

[avocadoman1]

at the time the HOV-Clean Air Sticker program was implemented, it was used as an incentive for consumers to purchase a hybrid vehicle that exceeded 40mpg.
so only the high mpg vehicles were eligible. and only a certain number of stickers were available for each vehicle brand.

[Ct. Ken V]

Ahh, I see! With avocadoman1's explanation, I now understand the limitations opus17 spoke of [which I wasn't aware of (not being from California)]. Connecticut also used a hybrid purchase incentive with the "40 MPG or better" basis for their sales tax exemption which just ended 2 days ago (unless they have extended it---I haven't heard anything yet about a posssible extension of it). Thanks for clarifying the requirements for me & pointing out my errors.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[jaw444]

To state the obvious and present a dilemma: The reason for the HOV stickers is to give an incentive to buy the highest MPG cars, the reward is being able to avoid gridlock, to bypass the bumper to bumper stop and go traffic, and to get to destinations faster. The number of stickers was limited because if there are too many drivers using the HOV lane, it too will be in gridlock and there will be no such reward. That has happened where i live, Los Angeles. Most of the time, during rush hour, the carpool lanes are as slow and jammed as the others. Apparently too many stickers were given out to benefit people in the most densely populated areas, during rush hour at least, though at certain times of the day the carpool lanes are better than the other lanes. (i'm talking mainly about the 405 and 10 freeways which i travel a lot. Another problem is that these most travelled and congested of all freeways lack HOV lanes along many vast heavily used routes).

A solution might be to convert two lanes to HOV instead of one, but that of course will increase gridlock for everyone else, not exactly fair since not only are hybrid cars too expensive for most people, but also, the limit on the number of stickers assigned prevents people who can afford the cars from enjoying the reward and forces them into the gridlock too, if they can't get a sticker.

i hate traffic. I find my self in the infuriating position where, i work for the County (as a social worker) and am required for my job to carry out the State of California's mandates which include a minimum of once a month visits to all clients assigned to me, this is not a situation where carpooling is possible, i'm required to have a well running car for my job so that i can carry out the state's required services which are individually assigned to me. So the same state that mandates that i be out alone in my car every day doing its work, punishes me for carrying out its demands that i be out there alone in my car by denying me some kind of waiver of the high occupancy rule in order to enhance the efficiency of doing what it, the state, insists that i do.

[jrthomasjr]

I have a recommendation for everyone that wants to get California carpool stickers. There are 85,000 of them out there. Go buy a used Prius that has the stickers. (I love that the state only charged $8 for the original stickers.)

I just purchased a 2004 Prius with carpool stickers. (And for the record, I agree with others that the stickers are ugly but it sure makes the web searches easy. You can spot them in any picture that might get posted but I digress.)

I registered at Auto Trader .com and set up a free daily search. I used the keyword "carpool" because those stickers are advertised as a feature just like the Nav System or JBL premium sound. I got a hit nearly every day for about 3 weeks by searching a 50 mile radius around Los Angeles. (There was an ad for a 2002 with 198,000 miles that wouldn't start cause the main battery was dead. But, they figured the Calif carpool stickers were worth $2000. Asking price $2500. Too funny.)

In essense, I paid $11.5K for car pool lane stickers and they came with a free Prius attached...

[Frayadjacent]

HOV? WTF is HOV?

(I know, but we just don't have them here. A guy a few doors down across the street moved in and has a Prius. I thought the yellow stickers on his rear bumper were actually paint damage and that the yellow was the plastic showing through)