More hybrid cars in carpool lanes? (CA)

SFGate ^ | 4/13/04 | Christian Berthelsen

[BurbankKarl]

Owners of hybrid vehicles would be allowed to use carpool lanes -- even when cruising the California freeways alone -- under a bill that passed a key Assembly committee on Monday. The bill, AB2628 by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills (Los Angeles County), has wide support, including backing from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Treasurer Phil Angelides. It passed the Assembly transportation committee with 11 votes. It would allow drivers of a new generation of hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius and some versions of the Honda Civic -- which get 45 miles per gallon or better -- access to so-called high-occupancy vehicle lanes even if they are not carrying the requisite number of passengers, usually two or three.

[Keith]

well, that means this freeper would have a clear lane!

Haul up the rope, I'm aboard, pull up the ladder, I'm across.

[Army Air Corps]

The Carpool lane will noe be called the slow moving lane. Maybe CA knows that the cars don't do well in collisions with other cars and are trying to protect the Hybrid drivers?

[Outraged]

Pure brilliance...The slowest cars on the road monopolizing the lane designed to speed the flow of traffic...BRILLIANT!

This should solve the 405 problem by creating more stopped cars, idling their engines, wasting gas, road rage and dead greenie weanies due to unsafe cars and angry SUV drivers taking revenge.

[Kirkwood]

I'm thinking about getting the Lexus RX400 hybrid 4WD SUV, but am waiting to hear what the list price will be. It is identical to the RX330, but is supposed to accelerate faster.

[HIDEK6]

I can't stand this communist crap. I am for abolishing all HOV lanes and handicapped parking spaces.

It's gotten so that, if you can't figure out how to use these special treatment facilities, you're a pathetic loser.

[Clovis_Skeptic]

Toyota is also offering a gas electric hybrid version of the Highlander. It is due 1st quarter of 05...supposed to be 267 hp.

[Clovis_Skeptic]

Toyota is also offering a gas electric hybrid version of the Highlander. It is due 1st quarter of 05...supposed to be 267 hp.

[ErnBatavia]

Ah yes...the Sepulveda Impasse;entirely too much of my life from 1978 until 2002.

[ErnBatavia]

I am for abolishing all HOV lanes

Shoulda voted for McClintock...getting rid of them has always been quite a crusade of his.

[greenwolf]

-- which get 45 miles per gallon or better --

Is that any better than the VW diesals?

[John Lenin]

What a waste of money, $1 million a mile for the carpool lanes .

[John Lenin]

I am paying for it and can't use it!

[Defender3]

I live in Stafford VA which is 42 miles from where I work in McLean VA. There are HOV-3 lanes running along I-95 that switch direction based upon the flow of rush hour traffic - North in the morning and South at night (in essence, I-95 is only three lanes in each direction). VDOT does allow hybrids onto the lanes when the HOV-3 restrictions are in place (0600-0900 and 1530-1800). After putting up with 3 hours a day in traffic for a year, I traded a Ford Explorer for a Honda Civic hybrid. I'm getting 40mpg and saving an hour a day on the commute. For me, and thousands of others with hybrids up this way, it's a viable solution since we won't get any increase in road capacity anytime soon. The HOV exemption for clean fuel vehicles is only approved until 2006 - after that, there's no telling what they'll do.

[BurbankKarl]

Well, yes, it has good acceleration....but on the freeway the regular engine will kick in....that is why all these new buyers in la la land are frustrated with getting 42mpg instead of 62mpg....they are freeway drivers, when hybrids work best in city and stop-and-go.

[MineralMan]

"I am for abolishing all HOV lanes "

---

Bingo! Having driven the 405 Southbound in LA far too many times, it's clear that the HOV lanes are responsible for much of the slowdown on that freeway. Drivers in the HOV lanes wait until almost the last minute to move right to take an exit or an interchange. They must cross 3-4 lanes of slower-moving traffic to make their exit or interchange, so there's lots of frantic braking going on as they move right. This snowballs back up the freeway, creating the huge slowdowns that last for hours.

Worse, their frantic maneuvering to get to the right lane to exit causes accidents on a fairly frequent basis.

I have completely stopped using the 405 in LA, even if it takes me far out of my way. I drive from North of LA, down the 101, heading for Costa Mesa in Orange County, and do it frequently. I now cut over on the 126 at Ventura, to I-5, then catch the 210 to the 605, which intersects with the 405 just north of Costa Mesa. It's a lot further, but takes much less time.

I make an exception if I do the drive on Sunday, when traffic is more reasonable.

[Fixit]

Virginia has something similar in effect for its HOV lanes, but the Federales threatened to pull federal highway money if the lanes were opened to other-than-HOV traffic.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=58607&ran=246939

The Federal Highway Administration, which has jurisdiction over the HOV lanes, could nullify that state law before then if it feels that it violates federal rules.

Roberto Fonseca-Martinez, the Virginia division administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, wrote in an April 9 letter to the state that under federal law, cars classified as ``inherently low-emission vehicles'' can use the HOV lanes without the required number of occupants.

But hybrid vehicles run on a combination of gas and electricity and therefore don't qualify for unbridled HOV access, Fonseca-Martinez wrote.

``If current Federal law remains unchanged, we anticipate writing a letter indicating that Virginia State law and policies are counter to Federal law, and request that Virginia discontinue its current practice of allowing clean fuel vehicles, especially hybrid vehicles, to use HOV lanes,'' he wrote to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Congress is considering legislation that would allow states to grant HOV access to hybrids. Fonseca-Martinez said his office would delay any action in Virginia until federal lawmakers had addressed the matter.

[VeniVidiVici]

-- which get 45 miles per gallon or better -- Is that any better than the VW diesals?

Not really. Prior to the 2004 models, the 5spd diesels were rated at 42/49.

My 5spd 2004 Jetta Wagon is rated at 37/47. But the '04 models have 10 more hp stock (100hp/175torque).

The new diesel Passats have ~134hp. Not sure what the mileage is rated at.

[-YYZ-]

"Is that any better than the VW diesals?"

For that matter, do they do much if any better in the real world than comparable gasoline powered cars? The EPA's fuel economy cycle is unrealistic, and the manufacturers design their cars specifically to do well on it. From what I've seen, in real world testing most of these hybrid cars lose much more mpg as a percentage of their EPA ratings than do gas powered cars.

[Renegade]

Aren't you afraid you might scratch it ??? ( Lexus)