California Revives HOV Lane Stickers For Plug-In Hybrids
Last September saw the end of the availability of 55,000 HOV lane stickers for California’s plug-in hybrids – but another slate has been able available.
Cars Direct reports that as of January 1st, another 15,000 stickers have been made available for plug-in vehicles. According to their report, HOV lane access is a big reason for purchasing a plug-in
High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane access continues to be one of the top motivators for purchasing plug-in hybrids according to the Center for Sustainable Energy. Perhaps this isn’t surprising, however: who wouldn’t want the power to move in and out of the carpool lane and have a shorter commute?
With gas prices at record lows, the HOV lane stickers are an easy way to goose sales of environmentally friendly vehicles.
More by Derek Kreindler
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HOV lanes and these stickers are great for those who qualify, however, the majority of us and planet Earth suffers. They absorbed a lane so now I sit, along with thousands of others, in bumper to bumper traffic for an extended period of time. I agree with Master Baiter, let's get hookers.
The b*tch is : WE the Taxpayers paid for that HOV lane then the conservitards took it away so crony capitalist a-holes get to make money off yet another Taxpayer built thing . so much for ' Liberal ' California . Grrr.... this is the TRUE face of ' Conservatism ' don't let BTSR's and other apologist's B.S. fool you . What I wonder is : isn't it possible to crank our fake stickers and slap 'em on your non compliant ride ? . If I could get such a thing , I'd gleefully slap it on my old Mercedes Diesel beater just to piss off the dickheads . I'll never , _EVER_ pay to use the HOV lane I already paid for , I just get off the freeway when it's jammed and use side streets , if you pay attention you can move right along and make good time in rush hour . -Nate
I think it's fair to complain about HOV lanes existing in the first place. I never understood the logic of taking a four lane road and essentially reducing its capacity by 25% during the busiest times of day. On the other hand, since these stupid things exist, why not create a market incentive that essentially costs the state nothing except for printing a few stickers? The state has a goal to reduce emissions and get cleaner cars on the road... this seems fully aligned with that mission. In contrast, back in the mid 1990s, California had a MANDATE in place forcing manufacturers to sell electric cars. I worked for GM/Saturn at the time and was involved in the EV1 launch. We were asking for an incentive like this. After all, since the state was mandating that we build and offer for sale electric cars, it seemed that an essentially zero-cost incentive was the least the state could do to help push for market acceptance. This would have meant a lot more to someone with a 1st generation EV with a 60-70 mile range. Getting stuck in stop and go traffic could make a big difference to one's sanity in one of those. Yet, at the behest of oil-industry lobbyists, then Governor Wilson twice vetoed bills to do this. Talk about mixed messages, when the first cars were delivered in December 2006 in Los Angeles, the CA DMV wouldn't issue plates for them. Apparently, the years of advanced notice weren't enough for them to figure out that tailpipe tests weren't necessary for cars without tailpipes. It took a few months to figure that out while high-profile customers were driving around with paper tags.
The only HOV a I know is married to Beyonce. He don't need no stickers.