Hybrids to get HOV status everywhere

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(The Bransons @ May 18 2007, 10:05 AM) [snapback]444905[/snapback]</div>

I think his point is that it defeats the spirit of the law to allow grossly inefficient/smog-producing vehicles that have become only slightly less inefficent/polluting with hybrid technology.

Case in point, the Silverado hybrid (which is included on Florida's list) only gets 18 MPG City/21 MPG Highway. Now why should someone who decides to buy this monster truck get to use the HOV lane while a non-hybrid Honda Civic owner who gets 30 MPG City/ 40 Highway does not?

The more environmental choice of vehicle is the non-hybrid Civic, not the hybrid Silverado.

 

States that choose to have HOV privilege for hybrid vehicles will have the flexibility to specify more stringent requirements (but not less) than the federal standards.

Go to http://go.ucsusa.org/hybridcenter/incentives.cfm and check on pending legislations for your state, and write your reps and senators to urge them to adopt requirements that are more in line with California rather than Florida.

BTW, looking at the Fed list, it appears that pre-2004 Priuses won't qualify. How odd.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(The Bransons @ May 18 2007, 09:05 AM) [snapback]444905[/snapback]</div>

Does that exclude the '04 and later Prii, which are midsize, rather than compact?

Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Angel Flight Pilot @ May 17 2007, 03:41 PM) [snapback]444359[/snapback]</div>

Ummm, the Original Purpose of HOV lanes was to reduce traffic to REDUCE POLLUTION.

The fact that vehicles who qualified for HOV lanes whizzed by the rest of us seems to have adversely affected those drivers, so they think that nearly empty HOV lanes was the intent.

If all traffic becomes non-polluting, maintaining HOV lanes just to lower the number of vehicles will probably have to happen or else there'll be a revolt of the whizzers, but at that point HOV should go away...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ May 18 2007, 10:31 AM) [snapback]444823[/snapback]</div>

And the Feds didn't say we have to do it. Get it?

 

Here is an article from the Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON DC -- When it comes to using car pool lanes, only the most fuel-efficient hybrids need apply.

The government proposed new criteria Thursday for certifying vehicles as clean and energy efficient -- standards for states that let hybrid drivers travel without passengers in the special lanes to avoid rush-hour traffic.

States typically restrict high occupancy vehicle, or HOV, lanes to vehicles with two or more people during designated hours.
DFW

For the driver of a hybrid to qualify for HOV lanes during peak time, hybrid vehicles would need to achieve 25 percent higher combined fuel efficiency for city and highway driving compared with similar gasoline-fueled vehicles.

Only four manufacturers -- Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co., Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp. -- make vehicles that would qualify. A limited number of natural gas vehicles built by Honda and Ford also would meet the standards.

The qualifying vehicles include: the 2004-07 Toyota Prius, 2006-07 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, 2006-07 Lexus RX400h, 2006 Mazda Tribute Hybrid, 2005-07 Ford Escape Hybrid, 2006-07 Mercury Mariner Hybrid, 2003-07 Honda Civic Hybrid, 2003-06 Honda Insight and 2005 and 2007 models of the Honda Accord Hybrid.

Natural gas versions of the 2003-05 Honda Civic and 2003-2004 Ford Crown Victoria would apply, too.

Some of the vehicles that would not qualify include the luxury Lexus GS450h Hybrid, DaimlerChrysler AG's Dodge Ram Hybrid and General Motors Corp.'s Saturn Vue Greenline Hybrid.

Auto industry officials were reviewing the proposal and declined immediate comment.

The proposal seeks to balance the government's interest in promoting the fuel-efficient vehicles with concerns that an influx of hybrids could clog up car pool lanes in congested cities.

Most states require HOV lanes to carry two or more occupants. The federal highway bill signed in 2005 allowed an exemption for fuel efficient vehicles carrying only the driver. The new criteria was developed for the Transportation Department, which administers HOV programs.

States that allow solo hybrid drivers in car pool lanes include Arizona, California, Florida, Utah and Virginia, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Lawmakers in Georgia and Colorado have approved similar plans, and the vehicles can also be used in HOV lanes on a highway on New York's Long Island, said Scott Nathanson, national field director for the UCS's clean vehicles program.

The EPA measure allows states to choose stricter rules. California, which has an estimated 140,000 hybrid registrations, requires the vehicles to get 45 mpg to use HOV lanes.

Nathanson said the proposal would encourage the "best and the brightest" of the hybrid choices instead of "allowing muscle hybrids or hybrids that are not really using the technology to push the envelope."

Hybrids also could qualify as energy-efficient by achieving 50 percent or better in-city fuel economy. Dedicated alternative fuel vehicles could qualify, too, to use the lanes.

To be considered low emission, the EPA said the vehicles would need to meet federal and California emissions standards.

Scott Stapf, executive director of the Hybrid Owners of America, said 37 states have the hybrid HOV provisions or are studying the concept.

"This is a pretty hot topic at the state level," Stapf said. "Hopefully this will help."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hill @ May 18 2007, 07:31 AM) [snapback]444823[/snapback]</div>

California state auto emissions laws are MUCH stricter than federal laws, and we don't have to abide by the federal laws in this respect simply because our law is "better" (whatever that means really)... you can not simply have your car pass federal laws, and not state laws and expect to get a smog certificate.

Of course this could simply be because you're stacking on the existing law, in which case California law already is stacked on it.. do we allowed hybrids in HOV lanes.. YES we do, however our criteria for what should pass as "fuel efficient" is much more stringent than federal law, as such our current system could stay in place.

Which I predict to happen.

But I agree, this sounds like a US automaker backed bill to be pushed through.

 

I wish they have something like this in Seattle Washington. Traffic here is a nightmare. :angry:

 

What "plan" have lawmakers in Georgia "approved". I have not found any info on this.

 

While I obviously own a Prius, and would like to be able to drive in the HOV lane, I don't think it should be allowed. California has reached their limit of HOV exemption stickers, and I don't think they should issue any more of them. In fact, I think they should cancel the existing stickers.

HOV lanes are primarily to get cars off the road to reduce congestion. A single passenger Prius does absolutely nothing to reduce congestion. My 02.

Hybrid and EV sales should be encouraged through Tax credits to reduce the initial capital cost. Not through HOV lane exemptions. That is just not what HOV lanes are for.

 

HOV lanes actually cause more congestion than they fix. So the question is do you reward the few who are responsible enough to drive with multiple people? Or do you ditch the whole idea of HOV lanes so that an extra lane of traffic can be crowded yet as a whole everything is a bit less crowded.

Personally I like HOV lanes, there should be more of them, and they should have special perks too like being able to leave a freeway (some do, but not many).

As much as I would love to go on a rant about this though, breakfast calls

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(priusmaybe @ May 21 2007, 02:09 PM) [snapback]446776[/snapback]</div>

Found this in another forum thread posted by Raoul

Georgia law allows hybrids into HOV lanes, but the state bureacracy has dragged its feet in implementing it. This web site link has a good summary of where things stand officially: http://www.dot.state.ga.us/specialsubjects/hov/hov-afv.shtml

Georgia law allowing hybrids to get "Alternative Fueled Vehicle" license plates (aka tags) and to drive in HOV lanes is at Georgia Code Section 32-9-4 (allowing use of Georgia’s HOV lanes by certain hybrids if such use of HOV lanes is permitted by Federal law), and Section 40-2-76 (specifying the issuance of license plates for hybrid vehicles for such use).

Georgia's Department of Natural Resources has taken the position that they must wait for the U.S. E.P.A. to conduct a rule making and issue a list of vehicles. However, this position is belied by the fact that other states have already proceeded to enable HOV access.

I did have my wife pick up the AFV Tag Application and it does list Hybrids as one of the choices. I will be registering my new 07 Prius as soon as the tag paperwork shows up and can let you know more after I get that done.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 22 2007, 09:01 AM) [snapback]447353[/snapback]</div>

What is your logic behind this statement? Is there any research to support your logic?

Here is a link to a study that confirms that HOV lanes reduce overall commute times.

http://www.scag.ca.gov/publications/pdf/20...y_Final1104.pdf

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 19 2007, 03:28 PM) [snapback]445841[/snapback]</div>

Well, kind of. There is an exemption in the Vehicle Code for non-CA certified cars (Federal only, like diesel-powered cars) that allows a car with 7,500+ miles to be registered in CA.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 19 2007, 03:28 PM) [snapback]445841[/snapback]</div>

The initial authorization of 85,000 HOV stickers has been fully allocated. Absent an additional authorization, HOV lane access is limited to 2 passengers, Hybrid car (without an HOV Access sticker set) or not. Depending on what happens to the Federal law and how it is worded when it passes, California may or may not have to change the way it implements the HOV Access program. (Remember, California gets a bunch of cash from the Feds for highway repair and maintenance; that cash has strings attached to it.)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 19 2007, 03:28 PM) [snapback]445841[/snapback]</div>

Possible, but I sure don't see a rush of new Hybrid model production out of Detroit. (Announcements don't equate to production.) My guess is that you are seeing an outbreak of me-tooism at a state-by-state level.