The Hybrid's Free Ride

THERE ARE SEVERAL advantages to driving hybrid vehicles, not counting their enviro-chic cachet. One is their superior fuel efficiency, which saves money at the pump. Another is that because they combine gasoline engines with battery-powered electric motors, they are somewhat cleaner than their exclusively gas-powered cousins, emitting fewer harmful pollutants and global warming gases. But hybrid vehicles never were touted as a surefire way to get to work faster. That particular benefit was conferred by the state of Virginia, which, in violation of federal law, has allowed solo commuters in hybrids to use high-occupancy vehicle lanes otherwise restricted to vehicles carrying a driver plus at least two passengers on Interstate 95. Whatever the idea's original logic, it has outlived its usefulness and ought to be dropped.

This is an instance of public policy addressing one problem only to create another. By granting HOV access to hybrids, starting in 2000, and other alternative-fuel vehicles earlier, Virginia officials hoped to strike a blow for the environment and against profligate gas consumption. Instead, they provided such a powerful incentive for the purchase of hybrids that traffic in I-95's HOV lanes is starting to slow to the crawl associated with the regular lanes. Sales of hybrids in Virginia (nearly all of them in Northern Virginia) are second only to those in California; the number of hybrids registered in the region, about 6,800, has tripled in the last two years. "I'd say 95 percent of the people who buy a [Toyota] Prius" -- one of the hybrid models with HOV privileges -- "say it's to get into HOV," Toyota dealer Jay Taye told The Post.

The original and still sensible goal of HOV lanes was to encourage carpooling, thereby easing traffic. Clogging HOV lanes with hybrids defeats that purpose. The hybrid exemption, though illegal under federal law, is allowed to continue for the time being as Congress weighs regulatory changes. But the hybrids' environmental advantage has diminished as stricter EPA regulations have required gas-powered cars with cleaner engines, starting with 2004 models. And the Washington area's air pollution problems, though still oppressive, have eased over the past a decade. Most hybrids offer excellent fuel economy, which should be incentive enough for drivers to buy them as long as gas prices remain high.

It was reasonable for policymakers to jump-start hybrid sales at the start of the decade; the Internal Revenue Service, for instance, granted purchasers a $2,000 federal tax deduction. But the federal tax deduction, as well as a smaller state tax deduction in Virginia, will be phased out in 2006, when access to Virginia's HOV lanes is also scheduled to end. The state may find it politically impossible right now to withdraw HOV access for hybrid owners who bought their cars on the promise of faster commuting. But they certainly should let the benefit lapse in July 2006 as scheduled.