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L.A. Times Editorial: Park this carpool plan

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by jkash, Jul 21, 2004.

  1. jkash

    jkash Member

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    I have posted the entire editorial for those of you who have not registered with the LA Times.

    Jeff

    L.A. Times Editorial: Park This Carpool Plan

    Pretty much everybody loves hybrid cars, and for good reason. They're slick-looking, and so far the technology appears reliable. They have lower emissions and higher miles per gallon. In fact, they're so beloved that it's almost necessary to offer a disclaimer before stating a key policy point: They don't belong in the carpool lanes with only a driver aboard, as a feel-good bill in the Legislature would allow.

    The state created carpool lanes to ease the flow of traffic by encouraging more people to travel in fewer cars. If the lanes were meant to encourage better citizenship through better gasoline mileage, lumbering Suburbans would have been banned from them long ago. Besides, the public hardly needs incentives right now to buy the hybrids. Goaded by high prices at the pump, Californians already queue up on months-long waiting lists to buy the gasoline-electric vehicles.

    In a peculiar bit of circular reasoning, AB 2628 would limit the number of carpool- eligible hybrids to a total of 75,000 by 2008. That's the number of Prius, Insight and Civic hybrids that the state forecasts would be sold in California by then without the carpool program. (Only those three models qualify, based on emissions and gas mileage. The state would impose the limit by issuing decals.) If that many hybrids would sell without the incentive, what's the point of offering it?

    If the state really wanted to save gasoline, it would keep hybrids in the regular lanes. In a quirk of the breed, they generally get better mileage in the 25- to 45-mph swing of clogged roads than in free flow.

    Many carpool lanes are at or near capacity during peak hours. The bill's backers concede the problem; that's another reason the number of eligible cars is, and must remain, limited. But that also means it cannot be used to keep demand for hybrids strong.

    There's more reason to like the proposal by Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn to grant hybrids free parking. The city would give up nominal meter revenue in exchange for less air pollution, a good trade. It might prove impracticable, though, since about 30 conventional models also are rated as having ultra-low emissions, with more to come. Who's going to keep track of all these cars?

    Still, the Hahn plan has more merit than the state bill, which goes to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Aug. 2. The carpool incentive would sunset in 2008. That gives a car buyer in 2007 little reason to pick one of the three eligible cars. And the awkward reasoning behind this bill gives us no reason to support it.

    Read editorial from The Times by clicking this link.
     
    #1 jkash, Jul 21, 2004
  2. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    great article and i agree with the author. i dont think Prius should be able to drive in the HOV lane simply because it gets 50 mpg. i have often thought that larger vehicles should require more passengers to qualify for the HOV lanes. like 3 for a passenger car and 4 or more for a larger SUV or other low mileage vehicles with the requirement based on average mpg for said vehicle. With that, i would agree to a Prius requiring only two since that would equate to 100 passenger mpg. that would still be better than say a Honda Civic 6 cylinder with 3 passengers or a large SUV with 4.

    however, the free parking for hybrids i think is a great idea.
     
    #2 DaveinOlyWA, Jul 21, 2004
  3. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    I like your idea about more people for more poluting vehicles. But, that would be extremely hard to monitor. It would be a very good idea. Maybe they can add a Green lane. You have to have enough people in the car to average 50+mpg.... and the requirement will go up a little bit each year.. maybe.. maybe not. :mrgreen:
     
    #3 V8Cobrakid, Jul 21, 2004
  4. Sun__Tzu

    Sun__Tzu New Member

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    For the parking thing, wouldn't it be pretty easy to tie a check-system into the DMV database? When you're written a ticket, they enter your license plate into the DMV. Another bit of data, beyond name, address, etc., could be whether its a qualifying vehicle.

    BTW, priuschat/priuschat works to log in to the LA Times (as well as a few other papers).
     
    #4 Sun__Tzu, Jul 21, 2004
  5. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    would it?? we have intersections now that are monitored and will take a picture of the license plate and driver and mail the offender a ticket after identifying them from the drivers license photo on file.

    this eliminates giving a ticket to the registered owner who did nothing more than loan their vehicle to someone who doesnt care about the law.

    this intersection i am refering to was a very successful pilot program near Tacoma that was instituted when a school zone simply could not control the speed at which drivers were going. after a couple of accidents involving kids and a bus in one instance. this program was developed and has worked better than anyone could have predicted.

    realize that i do live in a state where tinting of the windshield is forbidden which makes identification a bit easier. this method would also work in states with full tinted windows as there are filters that easily penetrate the tinting. just a bit more money is all.

    i think we need to realize that we need to make economizing work. Toyota did it. we can do it to if we simply decide that that is what we want to do.

    its like the difference between a Prius that averages 40 mpg and one that averages 50. sure terrain plays a huge part and what goes up will not come down equally in a Prius so economy will not be equal when going down that hill you traveled up that morning. but if you want to get 50 mpg, you will. and to be honest with ya, it aint that tough to do.
     
    #5 DaveinOlyWA, Jul 21, 2004
  6. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    I don't know, probably depends on the sophistication of the technology available. Around here, I think it consists of a pen and a pad of tickets ready to be written out. I don't think people would want to get tickets on their windshields which may or may not be voided later by some computer.
     
    #6 bruceha_2000, Jul 22, 2004
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