California HOV Lanes

Cali, always Cali.....

 

Yes, it is already on the list. It will get the new green sticker.

Full EVs and NGVs get the white sticker.

 

What I find interesting is all the freeways around the SF Bay Area still have signs up that say cars with HOV decals can use the HOV lane. I thought there'd be a bit more public info about the yellow sticker termination on July 1

 

That is strange. I knew about it, and I don't even live in the same country. But I don't know much about the program - here, it's based on number of occupants, not the kind of car. Surely California doesn't change the HOV sticker colours every few years to encourage people to buy new cars?

 

I'm just a casual observer and infrequent visitor, but California seems car-obsessed like nowhere else.

 

Maybe that's because, at least in some areas, nobody can afford a cool house (or even any house), so they buy cool cars instead. Of course, I also see way more really old cars (non-classics) than elsewhere, probably belonging to those who can't even afford the fancy cars.

 

Or if they can afford a house, they usually have the most basic of cars. Particularly those older rebuilt cars that I don't see anywhere else when I visit. As a home owner, I can attest houses are really black holes for money and time. Just spent the last 6 hours weeding as well as watching the US women beat Brazil in a penalty kick shootout after tying it 2 - 2 world cup action. Yah!

:focus:
Still can't wait for the Prius Plug-In ordering to begin.

 

Californians understand that forcing Califorians to be trapped in cars with other Californians for hours, might have an affect on the 'highway deaths' statistic.

 

Anything to save time in LONG life changing commutes.
Yes the PlugIn Prius is approves (through DMV ) for a new GREEN sticker program which starts Jan 1, 2012. Limit of 40,000 cars.

Plug-in not expected out until maybe May-June ish of 2012.....?????
I told all my Orange County Prius Club folks to sign up for the Prug in Prius list (Toyota website) to be first on the ordering line for the Plug-In.

 

As someone who grew up in Nor Cal and went to college in So Cal, I'd say it's sort of true for So Cal. For Nor Cal, not really.

I know plenty of people in Nor Cal who don't care at all about cars.

 

I don't mind losing my HOV lane access because the traffic in my area is not too bad and the lanes are not very helpful. LA is a different story as is the Bay Area. I don't see how people can live with that kind of traffic. Wasting 2-4hrs of your day sitting in traffic is the pits!

 

'Yo. Just in case you weren't being funny.... The HOV program here started as occupancy-based only. High Occupancy Vehicle lanes. Carpools and buses. Then somebody had the idea that we should give incentives to people to buy cleaner private cars... and the HOV stickers were born. First for EVs and CNGs (white) then for "good" hybrids (yellow). Now the yellow is going away, and a new class is being made for "better" (meaning plug-in) hybrids (green). This allows an environmentally conscious driver to avoid saving the energy and resources of being an actual carpool, and just driving solo in a "clean" car. The idea was to promote the sale of better cars... I'm a bit confused about the effectiveness. It does seem to be selling more cars - to people who REALLY want to avoid carpooling.

 

Every one (in CA) that I spoke to who also have yellow stickers, were notified, by mail, that the stickers went away at the end of June. In addition, it seemed like everyone got the word pretty easily that the yellow's were extended. It'd be a tough argument to a judge that you didn't know your stickers expired, when in fact the CA yellow sticker extension notice included the new July 1 2011 expiration date notice. But hey ... maybe folks only read the first half ... right? right.

... well, that's half right. You have to have a CLEAN phev ... like the prius. The Volt's smog is too dirty to qualify for green stickers. But GM is promising they'll do better ... next time.


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In your state, is motorcycle with a single rider allowed in the HOV lane?

 

I forget if you spoke to me about it. *I* never got a notice. and *I* have yellow stickers... well, I HAD yellow stickers. I took them off in June. Not sure why I'm special, but seriously - no notice here.

I'm not sure how tough the argument would be if all the signage still says we're groovy in the HOV lanes with our sporty yellow stickers.

 

That was my only-partially-facetious question, too. True, it seems fair to promote low-polluting cars along with carpooling, but if the end result is yet more cars, does that really help?

They're called Provinces where I live, but yes, motorcycles with only one rider are generally permitted in carpooling lanes. There's usually a little 'motorcycles OK' sign below the graphic of two or three people in a car.

What we also have are 'bus only' lanes, both on freeways and busy streets. I'd favour a bus lane over a carpool lane every time.

 

Ok, so it is also based on the type of vehicle - not simply based on the number of occupancy.

 

Point taken. Yes, to a limited extent, you could say that it is. Public transit buses are a type of vehicle, too, and their use of restricted lanes is not subject to a head count. But there's still no HOV lane distinction here for type of car or its emissions level, if you'll work with that definition - it's based on the number of occupants. Sometimes as few as two, which is crazy, but there you go.