I just put 2000 miles on my PIP and I gotta say I'm loving this car.... Fill ups are 30 dollars access to carpool lane and not to mention the great fuel efficiency. I wish I'd gone this route faster it would have saved me thousands of dollars in fuel and fastrac costs ......
I love your car too, but love more the mine, first point I take in consideration to buy it was “Toyota” Brand, this means for me more efficiently vehicle and less combustible spend, but then you agree “Hybrid”, and there is no reason to buy another car, and keep surprising you, in my case, found I can carry on my Prius, same as I did on a Ford Freestyle (last vehicle I own for travel but I don’t need it anymore since the Prius come to my life), sure y can discover so much things and enjoy it, same as you do. We love our cars!!!
How does it save on FasTrak costs? We can't go through free like the all-electric cars. But I agree the car is great! -- Barbara
Barbara I was spending 120 dollars a month on fastrac charges a month. For those of you who aren't familiar with fastrac it's a way of driving in the carpool lane with a single passenger, we have a transponder on the windshield that is assigned to your account and everytime you use it it deducts money from your account. For my commute it means getting home 30- 40 minutes earlier so I can spend more quality time with my family. Having a Prius plugin means I qualify for the green HOV exempt sticker for free access to the carpool lane
Sorry I'm still unclear. Maybe I'm missing something. For me, all FasTrak does is deduct money when I go over a bridge. Yes the PIP saves me loads of time because I can use the carpool lane but it doesn't get me over the bridge any cheaper. I just looked at the page and it doesn't say anything about 2 people being able to cross the bridge for free in the carpool lane. Only white decals or 3+ people. I also couldn't find any info about FasTrak letting a car with only 2 people use the carpool lane. I'm near SF - maybe it's different where you are? And I'm not sure what you mean by "free access to the carpool lane." Are there places where you have to pay to use the carpool lane? I am curious! Thanks.
I have had my PIP for a month and have put over 2000 miles on it......where does the time go?! Yep, I reset the odometer when I bought it and during those 2000 miles I am averaging 70 mpg.....around town, freeway driving at 65 to 70 mph, and mountain driving at least once a week! Wife and I are totally in love with this car! Regarding FasTrak in Southern California, the PIP does not qualify. You have to be 100% electric to qualify. However, different areas and different States have different parameters. The PIP does qualify to travel in the HOV lanes (not FasTrak) with one passenger if you have HOV stickers.
Wow I just checked and your right.... I thought the express lane was the same as a carpool/HOV lane. I guess I need to start taking the 5 fwy HOV lane from now on. I guess I got real lucky for the last 6 weeks
I wager you will be getting a bill from FasTrak in the mail (they have cameras that read your license plate)! I was under the same impression as you. Sent in my application (with VIN and DMV HOV approval) to FasTrak for a transponder and they wrote back and said, "no dice, you have to be 100% electric."
Maybe this is what you meant, but to clarify, PIP qualifies you to ride in HOV lane with zero passengers, assuming you have the HOV sticker. (Also, I didn't even know express lanes existed until this thread!)
To further clarify, HOV stickers in California allow you to travel in the HOV lanes with one person in the vehicle as opposed to 2, or in some cases 3+, people in the vehicle.
Congrats on the PIP. I now have 17,000 miles on mine. So far, so good and averaging about 70-80 miles per gallon per month...which means that I fill up about once a month or so.
And to further clarify, green HOV stickered Priuses with a three-position switch FasTrack transponder may set the position to "3" and drive free through the L.A. County Metro "Express Lanes" with a single occupant. This does NOT apply to the 91-Express, however.
I went over the I15 expressway info on fastrak.511sd and saw this info "People with low-emission vehicles can use the I-15 Express Lanes as a solo driver without having to pay the toll. These vehicles must display the proper sticker. For more information about HOV lane usage by low-emission vehicles visit the California Department of Motor Vehicles website" So I called the information number provided on the website and asked if my plug in Prius with the GREEN clean air stickers was able to drive free without toll with a solo driver and no fastrac transponder and was told YES as long as I have my GREEN HOV clean air sticker displayed properly on my vehicle I did not need my transponder and I will not have to pay a toll. I'm not sure if it's just in San Diego but I'm very relieved
Thank you Capt. Hook and Capt. Lawdude. It goes to show that there is no consistency in the various FasTrak policies in Southern California. The rejection notice I got was from the 91 FasTrak (Orange County). But now I will be applying for a LA Metro transponder and I will use I15 Express Lanes with abandon!
As far as I can tell it doesn't apply to bridges or 100% toll highways, but does apply to most if not all toll lanes on public highways.
My feeling is the the rules concerning the applicability of the HOV decals are completely and deliberately inscrutable. The only way to know if they apply is to determine what section of the vehicle code applies to that particular road, and then correctly interpret the meaning of that section. It can depend on how construction of the road was funded and the existence of code sections specifically mentioning a particular road. For example, here in the SF Bay Area, the white decals are honored on the Golden Gate Bridge, but not the green decals. Absolutely no rhyme or reason, You just have to know, or take your chances.
