In the Feb. 3 column, I asked for your counts and opinions of hybrid vehicles in the HOV-3 lanes. The Virginia Department of Transportation is concerned that a growing number of hybrid vehicles (gasoline plus electric) are a significant cause of congestion in the HOV-3 lanes. VDOT's surveys indicate that 18 percent of all traffic now in the express lanes is hybrid traffic.
I'm concerned that VDOT will ban hybrids carrying fewer than three occupants while not effectively addressing what I suspect is a greater problem: that of cheaters in conventional vehicles.
That is why I asked for your observations, and I received some interesting answers.
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
By blaming hybrids, critics are losing sight of the real culprit clogging the HOV lanes: HOV violators. As I commute on Metro's Orange line, I see five to 10 HOV violators for every hybrid in the HOV lanes on Interstate 66.
If VDOT is concerned about excessive traffic in HOV lanes, the solution is to enforce the HOV rules. Banning hybrids won't solve the congestion problem; it will just take away incentive for using one of the best energy-conserving and pollution-reducing alternatives available today.
Ira Birnbaum
Annandale
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
The provision for clean-fuel (CF) vehicles to use the HOV lanes has resulted in even more vehicles on the road during rush hour. People are buying CF vehicles for this perk.
Those vehicles really belong in the regular lanes. When the drivers have to sit in slow traffic, their CF vehicles won't be polluting the air.
Patricia C. Berzins
Springfield
Dear Dr. Gridlock:
Your suspicion that Interstate 95 HOV congestion is caused by cheaters is a fantasy. Violators in the I-95 HOV lanes have never been significant. The lanes are very well patrolled. I go for weeks without seeing a violator pulled over.
The problem is that there are simply too many legitimate cars. That was caused by the extension of the lanes 15 miles or so. At first, it didn't make much difference. As development soared in the counties south of Fairfax, the number of carpoolers also increased.
