Hybrid bill awaiting Arnold's signature
A measure to allow more vehicles in
Even as the bill awaits the governor's signature, the debate rages on. Many motorists who carpool are unhappy with the additional vehicles in the HOV lanes. A Caltrans study reports mixed results with the program. Congestion increased on some lanes but overall traffic flow improved.
However, opponents say that when the HOV lanes slow down, motorists are discouraged from carpooling and they don't want any added congestion.
[Source: Insid
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
charlie 5:37PM (9/10/2006)
Its a terrible idea. If you really wanted to decrease emissions, you would make laws that encourage tackling the problem in a technology-neutral manner. There are plenty of diesels or subcompact cars that get prius mileage without hybrid technology.
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Brocade 5:45PM (9/10/2006)
Maybe government knows something which we don't know? And won't know...
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Jimmy 11:25PM (9/10/2006)
So is this specific to hybrids ? If one owned a Chevy Metro 1.0l with an EPA combined mileage rating of 46mpg (hence greater then the 45mpg target) could you get a carpool permit ?
If the permits are only for efficient hybrids (Prius, Civic, Insight) then there is some irony! Hybrid technology is best in low speed stop and go driving and of no benefit at steady freeway cruising, yet this ruling would move hybrids from their best environment to (assuming the HOV lanes are doing their job) their non-ideal environment.
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electro^plankton 5:45PM (9/12/2006)
I live in Los Angeles and have to take the craptastic 405 freeway every morning. If it weren't for my hybrid, it would be a 2 hour drive instead of a 40 min one.
The permits aren't just based of fuel efficiency, they are also based on emissions. A 1.0l engine might get you 43 mpg, but it still wouldn't classify as a near zero emissions vehicle.
On a side note, there are TONS of people in non-hybrid cars riding singularly in those HOV lanes. Apparently the $400 fine isn't enough to scare them. Those people and all the wanna-be actors clogging up the freeways looking for their next audition. Those are the people that need spankings.
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charlie 11:48AM (9/11/2006)
"The permits aren't just based of fuel efficiency, they are also based on emissions. A 1.0l engine might get you 43 mpg, but it still wouldn't classify as a near zero emissions vehicle."
If two vehicles, one hyrbid and one not, are both getting 43mpg highway, then they are both releasing roughly the same atmospheric emissions. Hybrid technology has nothing to do with filtering emissions, its main goal is to reduce fuel consumption (which reduces emissions transitively).
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1985 Gripen 1:11PM (9/11/2006)
electro^plankton:
As a fellow Angelino and 405 victim, I have to point out that the CHP needs to do a better job of actually citing single-users for using the carpool lane. Have you EVER seen anyone get pulled-over out of the carpool lane? I haven't. I'm wondering how many times the CHP pulls over someone only to find out it's a new mother toting around her baby in the back of the SUV, claiming that raises the vehicle occupancy to 2! I think it should be limited to two REGISTERED DRIVERS in the car to use the HOV lane.
Actually, I kinda' oppose HOV lanes anyway. Seems to me mostly the only people that use them are people who just so happen to have more than one person in the car (a significant other or a child?), not people who planned to carpool in advance. That extra lane could be of better use open to everyone to advance traffic flow. Just like the article says, they noticed slight traffic reductions overall after allowing more cars (hybrids) into the carpool lane. That's because those WOULD HAVE BEEN cars in the non-carpool lanes being removed!
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up chuck 1:49PM (9/11/2006)
"If two vehicles, one hyrbid and one not, are both getting 43mpg highway, then they are both releasing roughly the same atmospheric emissions."
Even if two vehicles, one hybrid and one diesel, are both getting 43mpg highway, they are releasing vastly differing atmospheric emissions.
I fixed that for you.
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Marc 4:27PM (9/11/2006)
Sorry Charlie, you're way off on that. Hybrids have exponentially fewer emissions than gas or diesel engine cars. Hybrids are not designed to be just about fuel economy. Theye were designed from the beginning to emit next to zero emissions. Carpool lanes are built with 2 purposes, to decrease congestion and to clean up the air. Hybrids help with the latter.
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charlie 5:39PM (9/11/2006)
please explain to me how to vehicles that both use one gallon of gasoline to travel 40 miles have different emissions? Both are combusting gasoline, both have catalytic converters and other emissions reducing technologies as required by law, etc.
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electro^plankton 5:46PM (9/12/2006)
Hummm, have you not driven a hybrid Charlie? The petrol engine in a hybrid shuts on/off and works in tandem with the electric motor; meaning the engine isn't always on. If it's not on, it's not burning anything to spit out tailend. On top of that, a lot of the heat and energy lost thru normal combustion is recaptured and converted back into electricity.
If you want better examples. . . many of the cars in Japan & China are 1.0l vehicles. By your assumption, those countries should have cleaner air. You'd be wrong. The amount of dioxide emissions in those countries surpasses many metro areas in Europe and the States.
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charlie 11:14AM (9/13/2006)
"Hummm, have you not driven a hybrid Charlie? The petrol engine in a hybrid shuts on/off and works in tandem with the electric motor; meaning the engine isn't always on. If it's not on, it's not burning anything to spit out tailend. On top of that, a lot of the heat and energy lost thru normal combustion is recaptured and converted back into electricity."
I know exactly how a hybrid works, and obviously i know that hyrbrids have their engines off sometimes and that they have regenerative braking. But if they still get 43mpg, then they're still burning as much fuel in cumulative as any other car that gets 43mpg.
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