‘Bummed out.’ California to cut back on clean-air stickers for carpool lane access
Starting Jan. 1, the green clean-air stickers on Palo Alto resident Danny Shader’s 2015 Ford Fusion Plug-in and his daughter’s 2014 Chevy Volt won’t be any good for driving solo in California’s carpool lanes, reported The Mercury News.
That’s when a legislative overhaul intended to relieve crowding in carpool lanes will restrict new red clean-air stickers to vehicles purchased after 2017, according to the publication. Old green or white stickers will no longer be valid.
“I’m really bummed out,” Shader said, according to The Mercury News. “It basically means that only people with the means to buy an expensive new electric car or who are willing to pay tolls can use the carpool lanes.”
California originally issued the stickers to encourage people to buy plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles, reported the Los Angeles Times. As carpool lanes filled, sometimes to the point of gridlock, state legislators revised the program in 2017.
“By unclogging the carpool lanes, it will get people back to using transit and incentive to be in electric vehicles for a fast ride for three years,” said Stuart Cohen, executive director of Transform, a transportation advocacy group, according to KNBC. The new red stickers will be good until 2022.
Drivers with clean-air stickers from before 2017 will need to buy new electric vehicles to acquire a red sticker for solo carpool lane driving, according to state Air Resources Board. Purchasers of used cars that never had a decal but would have qualified in 2017 or 2018 also are eligible.
Motorists issued green or white stickers in 2017 can apply for a red sticker that expires in 2022, according to the state.
And drivers who earn too much money may not qualify for the stickers at all, no matter when they bought their vehicles, reported the Times.
That means 223,000 Californians with white or green clean-air stickers will be barred from solo carpool lane trips starting Jan. 1, according to The Mercury News.
“I mean, the point of these cars are to save you money, save you gas,” said commuter Jose Huezo of Corona, California, reported KCAL. “It’s pretty sad because these cars last a long time.”
Other drivers told the Times that it’s ridiculous to strip them of their carpool-lane privileges when so many scofflaws in non fuel-efficient cars are filling up the lanes.
The California Department of Transportation reports that, in some parts of the state, one out of every four vehicles in carpool lanes are there illegally, reported the publication.
“There needs to be a message that the CHP is taking enforcement seriously,” said Dave Moreno of Glendale, according to the Times. “I’m honestly not seeing it.”
A citation for driving solo in a carpool, or high-occupancy vehicle, lane comes with a minimum $490 fine, reported KNSD.
This story was originally published September 18, 2018 at 9:32 AM with the headline "‘Bummed out.’ California to cut back on clean-air stickers for carpool lane access."