Hybrid Cars Coming
Soon to California Car Pool Lanes
August 05, 2005 — By Tim Molloy, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Hybrid car owners are
fast approaching the day when they will be allowed to drive solo in
California's car pool lanes.
State lawmakers passed a bill last year that gave some types of the
high-mileage, low-emission vehicles access to the coveted lanes -- a
privilege meant to encourage drivers to buy the environmentally friendly
cars.
California's law was supposed to take effect Jan. 1 but first needed
approval from the federal government. That permission was tucked into a
$286 billion transportation bill Congress passed last week, meaning
there is just one last strand of red tape keeping hybrids out of the
high-occupancy vehicle lanes: State air regulators need to clarify which
vehicles meet the mileage and emissions standards.
The policy's supporters hope hybrids will be allowed in the car pool
lanes by year's end.
"Knowing that you're able to drive in that car pool lane would be huge,
and I think it would attract others to say, `Hey, I should have a car
like this as well,'" said Andrew Werts, a 31-year-old marketing director
from Redondo Beach who recently sold his SUV and bought a Toyota Prius.
Only two other models -- Honda's hybrid Civic and Insight -- meet the
eligibility standards of at least 45 miles per gallon and almost no
smog-causing emissions, according to an aide to the author of
California's bill, Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, a Democrat.
California Air Resources Board attorneys are reviewing the bills to
determine officially what vehicles will qualify, said spokeswoman Gennet
Paauwe.
Hybrids get better mileage by supplementing gas with electricity
harnessed from the engine during braking and coasting, but some are more
efficient than others.
California will become the second state to allow hybrids with just one
person in the car to use car pool lanes. Virginia enacted the change in
2000, and Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia and Minnesota are considering
it.
In Virginia, some drivers complain that opening the door to hybrids has
led to a crush of cars and slowed once-speedy commutes.
The American Lung Association of California advocates hybrids but took
no stand on the car pool bill for fear it might cut car pooling and lead
to more pollution.
"We were not convinced that this incentive was needed and we were
concerned about the potential to slow traffic in HOV lanes and
discourage people from car pooling," spokeswoman Bonnie Holmes-Gen said.
To prevent hybrids from clogging car pool lanes, Pavley's bill expires
in 2007 and caps at 75,000 the number of hybrid vehicles that could
participate. Owners would have to pay about $8 for decals identifying
their vehicles as hybrids to police.
As of the end of June, there were 57,164 hybrids registered in
California, though not all would be car pool-eligible, according to the
Department of Motor Vehicles.
In a sign of the vehicles' growing popularity, nearly 24,000 hybrids
were registered in the first six months of this year.
Source: Associated Press |