Car Pool (HOV) sticker. When will they be issued again??

I did that in January, i got an 07 with stickers. The stickers were a must for me, so i didn't even look at 08s or 09s. Very happy with my car, it had 28K on it when i got it. I use diamond lanes every day almost and it has improved the quality of my life and saved me much time and stress, best thing i ever did.

I hope they extend them, i think there was some legislation being considered in March but i don't know what happened to it, to extend the period that cars with stickers can drive in the carpool lanes from 1/1/11 to something like 2015. I love the car, it's such a treat to drive, and i love the stickers, icing on the cake.

I searched Craigs List and one of the online car finder sites. I found my car on Craigs list, it was the 4th one i looked at. hard to believe paying that much for a used car--but i thank myself gratefully every single day.

 

High Occupancy Vehicle.

Certain highways have lanes where you must have over a certain # of people in the car in order to legally drive in them. Some require 2 and some require 3. Some are always restricted, whereas others are restricted during certain hours (say 5 am to 9 am and 3 pm to 7 pm) then open to all traffic for the rest of the time. Motorcycles, AFAIK are allowed to take them at all times.

HOV stickers let you legally drive in them solo.

 

Not correct. There were no limits per brand. There was a maximum total # which kept getting raised until 85K stickers were issued.

 

Probably the single biggest reason I have not bought a Gen III is I do not want to sell my Gen II and lose my HOV access stickers which I have had since the program was implemented and use regularly. IF, big IF, the State would announce another round of HOV stickers being issued, like the extra 10K in 2006, I would try to complete a purchase in time to get the new stickers.

 

This is probably obvious, but the rationale for the stickers was to get people to use very low emissions cars, just as the rationale for the HOV or carpool lanes is to reward people for sharing commutes to work in order to reduce the number of vehicles on the road, in order to reduce emissions. California has had a terrible air pollution problem, but it's much better than it used to be, dramatically better. I remember in the 80s and before, maybe the early 90s too, you could see the visible pollution all the time, the air was brown looking, and you could not clearly see nearby mountains, very nearby. Of course, nonvisible pollution is more harmful to health and is present along with visible pollution. I used to regularly get burning eyes and postnasal drip when i would drive on the freeways for any length of time. I haven't gotten that anymore for a long time now. I really appreciate all the measures, including requiring carmakers to lower emissions, that the state enacted, making the state healthier and more beautiful for everyone, but it's still a serious problem. I just heard on the news last week that the city of Cerritos is either the most smoggy city in the US (it's in Los Angeles county) or it's second only to New York City.

What would really help reduce emissions is if society would move forward and embrace more telecommuting for workers. There's no need for a lot of people to be sitting out there on those freeways, jammed together in a sea of exhaust fumes, wasting a couple of hours a day of their precious limited time here on earth, leaving less time for all the things that need to be done, or that one would like to do, sitting in gridlock. Technology makes it possible for a lot of office workers to work from home, but there is a psychological lag time where fear that workers would not really work prevents this potential from being realized. Some day it will happen. And that will make the world better for workers who have to go to their place of employment and commute because there will be so many fewer cars on the road, they won't have all that gridlock.

I used to telecommute two days a week, Monday and Wednesday, for 10 years, until things changed at my job and it didn't work out anymore. It was wonderful for my quality of life, for my child, i was productive on the job at home, and i well know the potential of how much better things will be when society finally takes more advantage of office work done at home, online, electronically, by fax, by video conference, by email, and more.

The reason my employer which employs several thousand people, implemented telecommuting back in the 90s was that the pollution situation was so critical, the state required large employers to come up with some solutions to reduce commutes and get cars off the roads. In theory, that mission still exists but in my office at least, it's not as easy to justify as it used to be. It's voluntary and depends on the supervisor. I still telecommute pretty regularly but not on a set two day a week basis like i used to, as part of my normal schedule.

i keep my hope alive that telecommuting will be encouraged more again in the future. In the meantime, driving in the HOV lanes sure helps with my quality of life. I hope they get extended by the legislature beyond 2010.

 

I have been researching whether or not to sell my Prius w/HOV Carpool Stickers at this time or wait. Here is a link to California State Assembly Study on whether or not to extend HOV stickers for hybrids (and other clean air vehicles) to 2016. Be sure to read recommendation on page 4, which does NOT recommend extension for PZEV hybrid vehicles such as the Prius.
-----------------------
AB 1500 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, Mike Eng, Chair
BILL ANALYSIS AB 1500 Date of Hearing: April 27, 2009
SUBJECT : High occupancy vehicle lanes: hybrid vehicles
-----------------------
AB 1500 Assembly Bill - Bill Analysis
-------------------------
Looks like once I research a fair asking price I'll be posting on Priuschat Private Sales.

 

That's sad news for me. I might need to get a natural gas car down the line. The HOV sticker has changed my life so much for the better, i can't imagine readjusting my time schedule, already stretched beyond capacity, back to sitting in that gridlock for longer than i have to already because HOV lanes aren't everywhere. My job requires an individual car and travel in the field on a regular, often daily, basis, all over L.A. and beyond, plus a commute to the office from the Valley to MidCity. When i was shopping for my used 07 Prius in December, i noticed natural gas cars were more affordable.

Thanks for this information. It doesn't sound good for an extension for the Prius. I guess they aren't giving any credit for used car purchase motivation, getting people to buy low emissions pre-owned Priuses and giving up their higher emissions cars for that. If not for the HOV sticker, i would've gotten another Honda Accord. I loved my Honda Accord in every way, a car that fit me and my needs perfectly, no complaints, just loved it. I test drove one used one when i was looking at Priuses and was really torn, but the low gas expense of the Prius, after the ordeal of the 08 gas prices, and above all, the HOV stickers (before 08, for 20 years, i had a short commute from home to office with traffic, Santa Monica to West LA, 4 miles, and never dreamed i would end up in that exhaust fume gridlock on the 405, it was unexpected), so with some sadness because of my love for the Accord, including the newer 2007 one i test drove, I chose to get a Prius. I'm extremely happy with it, but the point is that i would think there are others like me who make this purchase choice because of the stickers and there is still a rationale for extending the HOV lane access because many of those cars are still newish and with the problems with the economy these days, the market for used cars is relatively bigger than ever. Do they want people to buy higher emissions used cars or lower?

Driving all over the place in HOV lanes in LA, i haven't seen that man of them, by far most of the cars in the lane are high occupancy. Getting rid of the few sticker cars isn't going to improve the congestion of those lanes in rush hour. Encouraging telecommuting would achieve that.

Anyway...if there are more people out there like me, especially with gas prices apparently heading back toward the $4 a gallon range, you should get a good price for your car, especially if the miles aren't too high on it.

Thanks for the info, i was wondering what happened with that bill. It doesn't sound good. Good luck on selling your car.

 

I've been checking the web for updates on AB 1500 in California State Legislature. Here's a link to the Calif. State Senate Committee Analysis of June 25, 2009:

AB 1500 (Lieu): High-occupancy lanes: single occupancy vehicles: sunset date.

Still a chance for Prius?? Next hearing date scheduled is 7/7/09.

 

AB 1500 was defeated in committee. Here is the current CA State Senate Bill, referred back to committee:
---------------------
SB 535 (Yee)
Vehicles: high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
California Legislation: SB 535 (Yee): Vehicles: high-occupancy vehicle lanes.
-----------------------
Looks like Prius didn't make it ... minimum gas mileage in current version is 65 mpg ...

 

The least they could've done was give us another year. Just out of sympathy and mercy. :-( Thanks for the updates. Is that the end of it then? Is it done? No amendments, no more debate?

 

Looks like it got sent back to the Transportation Committee. No vote on the floor yet. Probably worth a letter, email or phone call to your California (Legislature) State Senator (not Federal.)

 

Thanks. I just looked up my senators, looks like it's Padilla. I'll write to him and call him and email him, good suggestion. Thanks for the updates and follow up.

 

I would like to write a letter to my senator too,
but I am not native of US, so I have no idea what do I need to write, e.g. do I need to ask for support or opposition for which # law/bill. Please send me the wording that you are going to submit to your senator so I could do same for mine. Thanks.

 

Here's another update ... looks like possible extension to 2014, but NOT Prius:

"(1) A vehicle that meets California's super ultra-low emission
vehicle (SULEV) standard for exhaust emissions and the federal
inherently low-emission vehicle (ILEV) evaporative emission standard,
as defined in Part 88 (commencing with Section 88.101-94) of Title
40 of the Code of Federal Regulations."
-------------------------------------------------


AB 1500 (Lieu) was amended yesterday (7/14). The amended text can be found below:

AB 1500 (Lieu) STATUS UPDATE
- 07/14/09: -Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on
APPR.
Full information: California Legislation: AB 1500 (Lieu): High-occupancy lanes: single occupancy vehicles: sunset date.

 

Never used set...make me an offer

 

As pointed out elsewhere, transfer of these stickers to another car is not legal.

 

Sure, but it's not like an officer passing by would know that you transferred the stickers...

 

It makes no sense for the state of California to extend the life of the Prius-Civic HOV stickers or to issue additional stickers (and this is coming from a guy who's had them since 2006.) Why no extension? Because the purpose of the law was to encourage Californians to buy high-mileage, low-emission vehicles. Well, we bought 'em. If they don't extend the life of the HOV stickers, what are we going to do, junk our cars? As for issuing more stickers, California is already under orders from the feds to do something about its congested HOV lanes, especially (as other posters have noted) on some of the more gruesomely overcrowded freeways here in L.A. Those carpools lanes are built partly with federal money, and if they don't reach certain standards of travel efficiency -- poof! -- there goes the federal money. The last thing the state wants to do is add another 10,000 or 20,000 vehicles to its overcrowded HOV lanes (which are already useless on the weekends, when many more people are traveling two or more to a car) and put its federal funding highway funding at even greater risk.

 

hi folks,

new Prius owner (2005 model) here.

first and foremost, hello

second, i would like to add some comments to this thread.

given the fiscal condition of California, why would the state miss the opportunity to harness revenue from such a potential source? I would be willing to "extend" my carpool sticker for a $100 a year...something of a toll road scenario i know, but a source of funding, albeit diminishing (as older hybrids go out to pasture )

thoughts?

fyi - i bought a red 05 pkg 6 - with hov stickers - still past weekend. got a great deal on it and i'm loving it. i'm usually a honda guy, but toyota did an awesome job on the prius

 

Hello, welcome. congratulations on coming over--i'm a Honda person too, still love 'em, but the Prius is almost like a different species of machine. On january 2 of this year i got a used 2007 Prius with carpool stickers. The stickers was one of the main two or three reasons i got the Prius.

about renewing or continuing carpool lane access for Prius hybrids--

i see youre from Pasadena. By coincidence, i was in Pasadena yesterday, and then out to San Dimas, back on the 210/134 to Van Nuys, and then the 405 to Santa Monica. By the time i got to the 405, it was rush hour, about 5pm. It was eerie how empty the carpool lane was. I was flying. The cars in all the other lanes were stopped, there had been an accident earlier and traffic was bad. In the carpool lane, not only was it not overly impacted and congested as opponents to continuing the access for hybrids say. Nobody was in the lane, i wasn't behind anyone and i was going fast, i kept waiting to see cars stopped in my lane ahead after every bend in the road but it didn't happen til the carpool lane ended just before the 10. Usually it's not quite this good, but i am just not seeing the congestion in the carpool lane that is cited as the reason not to extend and continue access for hybrids. The carpool lanes do get stopped up sometimes during rush hour but they are way better than the other lanes and still a great incentive to carpool

I like your idea of a fee to continue driving in the lanes. I've been hoping for something like that. I have long been disgruntled because i'm required by the state of California to drive alone in my car, for my job, it's a state mandate the i visit each client once a month, i'm a county social worker, there's no way to do that in a carpool, we are required to have our own car in order to qualify for the job. So the same State that requires me to be alone in my car on the freeways then punishes me for doing what it has mandated me to do by making it more difficult to do the job it has required me to do--in other words, i think under those circumstances they should provide some kind of waiver stickers. but that's just my private fantasy while grumbling in traffic sometimes.

Anyway, so it will be painful to lose that access and i'm hoping there will be some solution, maybe what you suggest.

What do you think of toll lanes for the State to get more revenue? I think it's unfair because some people can afford them better than others. But if it were an option, i'd take it. Maybe my job would reimburse me, as long as it was driving on the job.