I do like my stickers .... & seldom use 'em. But if the author has their way - Green Car Congress: Study finds solo hybrid drivers in California HOV lanes amplify congestion, create up to $4,500 per car in adverse social costs annually Here's a solution ... let's kick out all the NON-hybrid car owners !! .
Virginia invented the idea of free solo HOV for hybrids but we started backing off by 2006 because our "sluggers" (car poolers) were ticked off at the congestion. I do not philosophically agree with free HOV for hybrids/plug-ins, but pragmatically it's a great boost to the car sales business and I might do it just to for that reason.
The nice thing is unlike tax credits, the dealer can't jack up the price so their profit center is the tax incentive. Of course it does nothing for those of us without HOV lanes to deal with . . . hummm a Federal HOV 'pass'. Bob Wilson
If the adverse social cost is $4500 for each car in already congested HOV lanes, what are the benefits on non congested HOV lanes in northern CA? What is the percentage of already congested HOV lanes to those that are completely empty. highway 80 to San Francisco has an HOV lane that requires 3 occupants. It is empty when I drive through while 5 or 6 lanes are near standstill. It's pretty frightening driving 65 mph next to a lane of cars doing 5. There are no restrictions on entering and exiting the HOV lane. In this case, I would prefer more cars in HOV so it slows down a bit and I don't get honked from behind because I am not going 80 mph.
see if you would have stopped right there I would have declared, "winner winner chicken dinner" First of all, I took the OP as a joke. The linked article written by the so-called experts shows no matrix as to WHY $4,500 is the magic number. That number - likely pulled out if their sphincter is based on their guess at some average person's salary that regularly drives the L.A. route they're estimating .... and that the driver's lost time is quantifiable because they should have been to work (example) 30 minutes ago and home 30 minutes earlier. But the drivers account for their lengthy drive - so that part is just BS. Then - as mmmodem danced around - the HOV cars would now be jamming up the other 4 lanes .... which would be FAR worse than jamming up one HOV Lane - which but is NOT spewing as much pollution as the other 4 lanes. The HOV lanes are full of ev's poet's, multi-passenger vehicles, etc - unlike the other 4 lanes. Where's the accounting for that reduced pollution. No - I'm thinking these researchers were paid off by some special interest group to arrive at the conclusion that was already requested. Its just too sloppy and lacking data to be anything else imo. .
I'm thinking you meant non-congested - NON-HOV lanes. See ... if you would have stopped right there I would have declared, "winner winner chicken dinner" First of all, I took the OP article as a joke. It's too incredible to even be worthy of consideration as being 'scientific'. The linked article written by the so-called experts shows no matrix as to WHY $4,500 is the magic number. That number - likely pulled out if their sphincter is based on their guess at some average person's salary that regularly drives the L.A. route they're estimating .... and that the driver's lost time is quantifiable because they should have been to work (example) 30 minutes ago and home 30 minutes earlier. But the drivers account for their lengthy drive - so that part is just BS. Then - as mmmodem danced around - the HOV cars would now be jamming up the other 4 lanes .... which would be FAR worse than jamming up one HOV Lane - which is NOT spewing as much pollution as the other 4 lanes. The HOV lanes are full of ev's phev's, multi-passenger vehicles, etc - unlike the other 4 lanes. Where's the accounting for that reduced pollution for the 4 Lane reduction. No - I'm thinking these researchers were paid off by some special interest group to arrive at the conclusion that was already requested. Its just too sloppy and lacking data to be anything else imo. .
What the hell is an adverse social cost? The study is full of crap, here's a simple example....... If it weren't for the carpool incentive, I'd still be driving my truck everyday and generating three times the pollution. I'd be in the regular lanes, thus creating even more congestion in the regular lanes. You want to solve congestion in the carpool lanes? How about enforcing (ticketing) all the illegal single occupant cars driving in the lanes. I can assure you that number is greater than the number of legal single occupant sticker cars in the lanes. With all the joblessness in this country why do we waste good money on this kind "research".
