HOV lanes???

Well I know in CA SOME hybrids can, but you need a sticker, which are no longer available. There were a limited number available to hybrid drivers, but now that they are all handed out, each sticker stays with its car through sales and etc. Unless the car is totaled, in which case I've heard you can transfer the stickers to your new hybrid.

In any case, I bought a 2007 Prius a few months ago, but it didn't come with any stickers, so I'm out of luck.

 

In Virginia if you have one of the two Clean Special Fuel Plates you can use the HOV lanes. Cars with the older plate can use all the HOV lanes. Ones with the newer plate, like mine, can't use the HOV lane on I-95/I-395.

 

In Arizona they had a limit on the number of hybrid plates (10,000 I think) which are all gone. Luckily I had one when I got my Civic Hybrid a few years ago and you can transfer it to an approved vehicle (Civic, Prius and Insight).

You can drive by yourself in the carpool lane - it probably saves me an hour of driving a day.

 

Here in Colorado hybrids are LOSING free access to HOV lanes on Sept 30 2009. They claim that is the date the federal bill authorizing it expires. If this was true, wouldn't hybrids nationwide have the same issue?

 

In New York, specific hybrids (which includes my Prius) can use the HOV lanes on the Long Island Expressway.
Surprisingly, the 2000-2004 Honda Insight can get the sticker but the 2010 model cannot; I think it has something to do with the emissions.

List of eligible vehicles:

• the Toyota Prius Hybrid, model year 2001 - 2010;
• the Honda Civic Hybrid, model year 2003 - 2009;
• the Tesla Roadster, model year 2008 - 2009;
• the Mini Cooper Mini E, model year 2008;
• the Honda Insight Hybrid, model year 2000 - 2004;
• the Toyota RAV4 EV, model year 2000 - 2003;
• and the Chevrolet S10 Electric, model year 1997 - 1998

LITM - For Commuters

 

Mr. Roadshow of the San Jose Mercury News addressed this issue in his column today. The upshot is that an extension to the bill is "in the works", so (probably) no one is going to lose this privilege on Sept 30 due to the Feds.

Here in CA, the privilege will expire January 1, 2011 unless it gets extended. No one is predicting an extension though, so I'll be out of luck in a year and a few months (along with about 85,000 other CA drivers with the stickers).

 

I sure hope in that year the legislature extends the bill

 

In CA there is AB1500 to extend the expiration to 2014.

 

That's excellent news. I had thought that all the proposed extension bills (really, amendments to more general highway bills) were dead on arrival. That's the last report I got.

2014 should carry me to retirement, after which any commute I have would be in a state that doesn't even HAVE HOV lanes. Sweet!

I guess I'll have to ask Mr. Roadshow about that!