CA Carpool Lanes Filling up with Single Drivers
Thursday, September 2, 2010
LOS ANGELES - California led the nation in allowing low-emission cars with only one person aboard into its carpool lanes, which were originally intended only for high-occupancy vehicles (HOV). Now, with changes signed this week by Gov. Schwarzenegger, the next generation of plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell cars will be included. At least six other states have similar laws under consideration.
Jay Friedland of Plug In America says the benefits of single-occupant green cars in carpool lanes parallel those of cars carrying multiple commuters.
"As long as you've got two people in a vehicle, you really are taking a car - an entire car - off the road. When you've got zero tailpipe emissions out of an electric vehicle, that really is a sort of a parallel footprint."
Some lawmakers argue that carpool lanes could become too congested. Friedland says if congestion does occur, a clause can be included - as it was in California - limiting the number of permits.
Plug in America, a nonprofit that accepts funding from electric car manufacturers such as Nissan, has a goal of getting more people to buy greener cars, Friedland says.
"Giving these next-generation vehicles - these very, very low-polluting or literally zero-emission vehicles - access to the carpool lane is a very large incentive to get people into those vehicles."
He says his group teams with environmentalists in seeking changes in state laws to allow drivers of low-emission cars into the HOV lanes, which are usually enforced during morning and evening rush hours.
"It's a very inexpensive incentive for a state to offer, and it's a very, very meaningful incentive for consumers to have - to shorten their commute times in these very, very green cars."
According to one estimate, California's move 10 years ago to let green cars driven by one person use HOV lanes resulted in the purchase of more than 100,000 hybrid cars registered in California.
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