Prius now allowed in California HOV Lanes!

Sure you can. I'm doing so tomorrow also.

Hurry up! Space is limited to the first 75,000 or so...

 

Dave,

Consider this, in SF Bay Area, you actually need a FasTrak account to get a sticker. That is extra trouble to turn off those it-would-be-nice-to-get-one-if-it's-free people.

If I were you I would go to DMV to see if the numbers of your license plate are already assigned. You could be just waiting for the plate to be manufactured.

 

According to record,
"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..."
We have enough stickers to go around for current owners. For the owners-to-be, good luck!!!

 

Requiring a FasTrak account is bogus, I don't travel any toll roads in the South Bay!

 

Hi all, Lordbrowne coming out of lurking mode to ask: Is there a fee that goes with the application? I don't see a request for it on on the application, but on the DMV site on the info page reguarding this there is a link for a fee that seems to be $8. Is that for San Francisco or what?

Lordbrowne
2005 salsa red mdl 6

 

It's for any application...per the website:

Clean Air Vehicle Sticker Fee (original or replacement) (VC §§5205.5, 21655.9)

8)

Eagerly waiting for the morning so I can drop off my application at the post office. I wonder how long it will take to get the stickers.

I'll post as soon as I receive mine!

 

do you just include 8 dollars cash in the envelope to pay for the fee?

 

Don't send cash. Send a check. If you don't have a checking account, go to the post office and buy a money order.

 

Figures, I'll get my sticker and not be able to use it until my Prius gets out of the shop... (probably another month and a half). I hate that guy who hit me more and more every day :cussing:

 

It may take that long for the DMV to get it to you (grin).

Mail it today anyway as one story I read said they had a small initial supply of stickers to start with.

So if you get a rental Prius, will the rental companies apply for it also??

 

This is freak'n awsome. Just yesterday I was thinking of selling my car. I may have to reconsider now that I can drive solo in the carpool lane.

 

Can those who are veteran Fastrak users tell those of us who are opening a Fastrak account today what an "original receipt" from BATA is? I assume this is not a physical toll receipt, since the whole point of the transponder is that you just drive right through.

Is it a monthly statement? Is it some receipt you get when you receive your transponder in the mail? Is it anything I can print out from the online account on the Fastrak website?

Thanks...

 

All:
Read the newspaper today (SanJoseMercury), it says that the Bridget toll authority was afraid the toll revenue will drop so that they added the "FasTrak clause" to the requirements for Bay Area residents. It is $$$$ for them. Fairness is not what they care about.

Anyhow, I signed up for FasTrak online last night (no fee, only $40 initial deposit - possible some small $$ if you NEVER use it - may be you could cancel it later and get your $$$ back!). I am sending in the Sign Up Confirmation page and Account Overview page, two printouts, along with the application form and $8 check TODAY. Good luck everyone.

 

I wonder what will be quicker - submitting the form through the local DMV or mailing it in? I would be afraid that the local DMV would sit on it for a while but then again, maybe those applications get priority since you pay for it locally and then Sacramento just sends you the sticker... I do not know... :|

Do you think they will really run out of these stickers in the next six months? I find that really hard to believe but you never know. I was thinking about buying a second Prius in Jan so I get the tax rebate but the carpool lane thing is more important to my commute...

 

In the race to be the first one on PriusChat with the carpool lane “clean air†sticker, last night I drove the application to the destination post office which sorts State of California mail. I drove away with a double-smug smile on my face. One, a permeant one, for driving a Prius, and the second for knowing that I was in the race-for-the-first-sticker lead.

A few miles down the road I had a sinking in the stomach feeling when I viewed the State Capitol Building. No, my feeling of dread was not that Fran Pavley probably already has her sticker - she probably does - and rightfully deserves the very first one. No, my smugkill came from realizing HOW Fran Pavley probably got her sticker. Last I knew, there was a semi-secret, semi-private mini DMV office in the basement of the Capitol Building. Another one of those “we’re too busy and important†perks the State Legislature bestowed upon themselves. “Semi-private†in the sense that years ago there was a stink about should the general public be allowed to use this office . . . the outcome was, YES . . . but, being a semi-secret place, few know it is there, and even fewer know how to get there in the Capitol Building maze.

I’m sure they have the stickers! The DMV wouldn’t want to disappoint the hands that holds their purse strings, now would they. I’m sure that mini DMV office has everything a pampered State Legislator could ever need. :roll:

Dooh! If only I would have thought ahead :x . . . right now I could be posting a picture of the sticker on the back of my Salsa baby. But nooooo. Now I have to wait for my application to make its way through that huge blue Borg/DMV cube on 20th street, just south of Highway 50.