Solo in a Hybrid? Merge Left (Congress OKs open carpool lanes for hybrids)

[DeepModem Mom]

Los Angeles Times:
Solo in a Hybrid? Merge Left
Congress OKs opening carpool lanes to fuel misers and $23 billion for state road projects.

By Dan Weikel and Amanda Covarrubias, Times Staff Writers


Motorists who drive solo in fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles will gain access to carpool lanes in California under a massive transportation bill approved by Congress on Friday that includes billions of dollars for projects statewide.

The $286.5-billion bill, the first major transportation funding measure since 1998, cleared the House and Senate by large bipartisan votes. California will receive roughly $23 billion for highway projects — a return of about 92 cents for every dollar in gas taxes the state sends to Washington.

By granting carpool privileges to fuel-efficient hybrids across the nation, the spending bill authorizes California to implement legislation that has been on hold since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it eight months ago.

The federal government gets a say in who can use carpool lanes because it provides most of the money to build them....

***

The California law, which expires in 2008, grants carpool access to hybrids that are the cleanest running in their class and get at least 45 miles to the gallon. Smaller hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight qualify, while larger SUV models might not....


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hybrids30jul30,0,3009102,full.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[Ian David]

1. Take THAT, SUV-driving bastards!

[DeepModem Mom]

6. LOL! I LOVE your car! nt

[Dover]

2. Of course SOME hybrids actually do better in stop-and-go traffic..lol!

Would hate to think my investment in a hybrid car designed to do better in city conditions is 'wasted' on highway-type driving conditions...ironic eh?

Couldn't resist. I'm ALL FOR THE HYBRIDS AND ANY INCENTIVES that will encourage their use.

[Solo_in_MD]

3. I ride a Motorcycle

So I get to use them too. I also get better gas mileage than most hybirds (at least on the smaller bike)

[Orsino]

12. Yep. They won't save the world...

...but they could give us extra time to find a new technology before the oil runs out.

[HuckleB]

4. .

[merwin]

5. So do things like the Jetta TDI get to use it also?

They get 48mpg on the freeway, and are technically purely clean burning.

(They're able to run on used cooking oil, resulting in very low emissions). That would make it a hybrid, right?

[Ian David]

8. One thing we need to look out for when we legislate hybrid preferences

Hybrid motors can also be used as electric turbo-boosters on high-performance sportscars that don't get good mileage.

So, we need to be sure that laws encouraging hybrids also specify cars that get more than a certain number of MPG.

Otherwise, someone driving an 11 MPG Camaro will get tax breaks and HOV access, and the companies that make them will evade emissions quotas.

[ovidsen]

7. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Hybrids are already allowed in the HOV lanes of Interstates in the DC suburbs of Virginia and Maryland, but maybe not for long. Seems some officials think too many of them are spoiling the concept:

Hybrids Could Lose HOV Perk Early
Va. Offers Options Aimed at Restricting Usage of I-95/395 Lanes

By Steven Ginsberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 2, 2005; Page B01

Virginia transportation officials said yesterday that hybrid vehicles have become so prevalent in the Interstate 95/395 carpool lanes that their use may be curbed earlier than promised.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64124-2005Mar1.html

[HuckleB]

13. I wondered about that.

I wonder if such a perk may increase congestion in general, and even promote fewer mass transit riders. I don't know, but, while hybrids are great, car pools in hybrids would be even better.

[Gabi Hayes]

9. here's mine....Jetta TDI

also, it's INSANE to peg those lanes to hybrid-only cars, as previous poster mentions WTR to gashogs....it should be rated solely by mpg as rated by the EPA. that, of course, would open the lanes to a hell of a lot more traffic, and make enforcement probably impossible

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[Gabi Hayes]

10. also have this one

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[Paulie]

14. It'd rather have it go by emissions than mileage

That is the point isn't it? By increasing mileagle, we are reducing emissions.

Nothing less than SULEV. AT-PZEV + SULEV even better. :popcorn:

Can you compare this: http://www.epa.gov/autoemissions/E-TOYOTA-Prius-05.htm

to this: http://www.epa.gov/autoemissions/E-VOLKSWAGEN-Jetta-05.htm

Besides the first being a mid-size? :evilgrin:

[Orsino]

11. Good idea.

I've been worried that new hybrid SUVs 'n' trucks that get one extra mile per gallon would begin clogging up the HOV lanes.

An mpg cutoff seems like the way to go. I wouldn't even mind seeing certain transfer trucks that get fewer mpg allowed in, if they can be outfitted with new tech that makes them much more efficient than typical tractor-trailers.

Seeing lone commuters driving honkin' big SUVs ticks me off. Maybe they have an army of children that they also ferry around, but it's still quite a waste if most of their miles are spent in moving one person.