Following a five-year run allowing owners of select hybrid vehicles to apply for special access stickers that would permit them to travel in High Occupancy Vehicle (carpool) lanes, despite the lack of a passenger, California has not stopped accepting applications for hybrid vehicles.
Although President Bush will likely not be remembered for his legacy in the environmental realm, it was he that was responsible for signing the federal transportation bill back in August 2005 that began giving access to solo hybrid drivers to utilize HOV lanes, as pointed out by HybridCars. Ultimately some 85,000 motorists were issued the HOV-access stickers for their hybrids in California, on a first-come, first-serve basis.
On July 7, 2010, California’s Governor, Arnold Swarzenegger, signed a new bill titled Assembly Bill 1500, which switches the issuance of special HOV-access stickers to pure electric vehicles and those running on compressed natural gas – not gas-electric hybrids. This move will now raise the standards for the vehicles being given such special access to the cleanest vehicles on the road, and is currently set to last until January 1, 2015.
The DMV says that it has reached its maximum issuance of HOV stickers, and will begin denying and returning applications. “We have no more stickers available to issue and any applications sent to DMV will likely not be successfully processed,” said DMV spokesman Steve Haskins. “Any unprocessed applications and checks will be returned as soon as the last of the stickers are mailed to customers.”
For those who own gas-electric hybrids, there is still some hope, albeit limited and short-term, as SB 535 could potentially extend the deadline for hybrid HOV-access through July 1, 2011, should it pass, according to HybridCars.
References
1.’Carpool (HOV) lanes…’ view
