Decals for Prius Prime 2017. If you have not yet received your green decals, I suggest you call this number for the status of your application Special Processing Unit (916) 657-8035. I submitted my application on Oct. 7th 2017. I called this a.m. Nov. 7th 2017, and was fortunate enough to get a call back. The kind gentleman asked for my plate number and explained that a bulk batch of stickers will be mailed out by this week or next week.
It's a California thing. Apparently most (non-California) Americans think they are the world. Californians apparently know they are the world.
Answering the earlier poster's question: the green decals allow one to drive solo in lanes normally reserved for 2 or 3 or more occupants. The exact rules about which specific facilities honor the decals and when they honor them are buried deep in various governmental legal documents; there is no indication at a particular bridge/toll road/HOV lane/whatever. Guess wrong, and it's a potential $300+ ticket.
NY has one as well called Clean Pass. The big difference between CA and NY is the fact that only 1 highway in lower NY has HOV restrictions (the L.I.E.) and only in effect during rush hour. If the rest of the state had HOV restrictions 24/7 I'm sure the Clean Pass sticker would be a bigger deal to New Yawkers in the lower region. Nexus 6P ?
There was an article in the paper today about the California carpool lanes being overcrowded. There's talk about making it 3 or more people per car, kicking the stickered cars out, and cracking down on the scofflaws. No decision yet.
The other difference is (correct me if wrong) NY allows hybrids (over 45 EPA) and plug-ins, whereas Ca. free HOV is only for plug-ins, so in Ca. that is an incentive to ditch your hybrid and get a plug-in.
The Greenies are only good in Cali for another year anyway - unless that changed with the latest increase in stickers. Kind of a joke, though it is nice to buzz past people on a metered on-ramp. Otherwise, if a freeway is clogged up, so is its HOV lane. Great idea, but only implemented well in a few places.
I think your Gov signed an extension a few weeks ago....funny not too much news coverage and talk about it. I am thinking plug-ins now get 4 years of free HOV, not sure how it works after that..
Good catch! Stickers issued to new cars after January 1, 2019 are valid for three full years and then until January 1 of their fourth year. Drivers issued stickers in 2017 and 2018 will be able to apply for a new sticker in 2019 that is valid until January 1, 2022. Stickers issued before January 1, 2017 will expire on January 1, 2019. So I now have a little more incentive to trade-in that I didn't before. Unless, of course, the new tax code does away with the Federal tax credit.
So maybe PiPs as well as older Volts and Tesla's and Leaves are out of luck? Unless they have not previously applied, they can get a sticker? Not sure how it works! Many ramifications.
