As Vehicles Pack HOV Lanes, Experts Fear Advantages Could Turn Counterproductive
By Steven Ginsberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The purchase of a hybrid car is more and more likely to put its driver into a privileged class of motorist with access to carpool lanes, special parking spots and other perks -- the kinds of things most drivers can only dream about when they're stuck in traffic or circling a block.
But many commuters and some transportation experts say the generous incentives intended to reduce oil consumption and help clean the air are working too well and are in danger of becoming unfair, unnecessary and, ultimately, counterproductive.
Hybrids are helping clog carpool lanes in Virginia, the first state to let solo motorists in the combination gas-electric cars use them. Last year, the state's Department of Transportation was worried enough about the impact of hybrids on traffic flow to call for an early end to the perk, scheduled to expire in July. Instead, Virginia is in the process of extending it.
The House of Delegates gave preliminary approval yesterday to a bill allowing hybrids to continue using carpool lanes under certain conditions. The state Senate already approved an extension, and Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) supports it, despite the qualms of his transportation officials.
An incentive -- whether it's access to a carpool lane or cut-rate financing -- still aims to put another car on the road, and that undermines efforts to encourage carpooling.
Hybrids accounted for nearly 25 percent of cars in the high-occupancy vehicle lanes on Interstate 95 in Virginia, according to a state study conducted last fall. That was up from 4 percent two years ago.
The Transportation Department is alarmed by the rapid increase. The additional drivers could slow traffic in the HOV lanes to the point where carpoolers decide they might as well go back to driving their own vehicles in the regular lanes.
"We're concerned about the unrestricted growth of hybrids because if HOV stops working for one class of vehicles, it stops working for all classes, including buses and carpoolers," Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer said.
Many commuters recognize the dilemma.
"The whole point of HOV is to get fewer cars on the road," said Bill Faith, an Annandale resident and sometime carpooler. "To allow them to come in as single cars doesn't make any sense. Don't let them clog up roads and have more traffic. It's just silly."
But more are probably on the way as automakers rush to bring out new hybrids and drivers buy them nearly as quickly as they come off assembly lines. More than 200,000 hybrids were sold last year, compared with 83,000 the year before, according to the Electric Drive Transportation Association.
"I think this country has gone crazy with incentives for hybrids at a time when they're selling like hot cakes," said Robert Poole, director of transportation studies at the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank in Los Angeles.
"The HOV lanes will get clogged up, as they're starting to in Virginia, and they won't any longer serve the purpose of giving people a carpool time advantage," Poole said.
Hybrid buyers enjoy federal and local tax incentives that can offset the extra cost of buying the vehicles, which are generally priced a few thousand dollars higher than other types of cars in their class. Last year, for example, the District passed a law exempting hybrid buyers from its 6 percent excise tax on car purchases.
Spurred by a change in federal law in the fall, five states joined Virginia in allowing hybrids to use carpool lanes, said Christina Rewey of the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least five others, including Maryland, are considering similar measures.
Numerous cities, such as Los Angeles, Albuquerque and New Haven, Conn., allow hybrid owners to park free in metered spots. Baltimore approved a measure in October that allows hybrid owners to pay half-price for parking in certain city garages.
The privileges are being pushed by environmentally conscious politicians and by automobile manufacturers, many of whom trumpet the perks in their sales pitches.
"We'd like to see incentives for all alternative-fueled vehicles as widespread throughout the country as possible," said Eron Shosteck of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, who said the perks are designed to stimulate the market for the cars. "What you're doing is creating a greater incentive for consumers to spend the extra money that these vehicles cost."
Shosteck envisions a separate driving world that includes hybrid-owner-only express lines at motor vehicle department offices and even free carwashes.
Lawmakers behind the measures in Virginia and in other states say their goal is to spur sales of the low-emission, high-gas-mileage vehicles to improve air quality and reduce the nation's oil dependence.
"I know a lot of people put the focus on easing trips on HOV lanes, but my interest has always been in the clean air aspect," said Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Fairfax).
Plum, echoing other hybrid supporters, added that if the HOV lanes are clogging, the state should target cheaters, who constitute about 15 percent of users.
Sen. Jeannemarie Devolites Davis (R-Fairfax), who sponsored the Senate bill, added that the HOV incentive gets people out of their gas-guzzlers, not out of carpools. "If they're going to be a single driver, this encourages them to drive a fuel-efficient vehicle," she said.
Hybrids might not serve the purpose of improving the environment while they're cruising the carpool lanes.
According to statistics maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, the cleanest and most popular hybrids, the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic, emit half as many smog-causing pollutants as a standard Honda Accord, Ford Explorer and other popular models.
In most cases, that clearly favors hybrids. But in carpool lanes, where two or three passengers are normally required, the benefits are negated. A car such as the Explorer with three people in it, for instance, pollutes less than three hybrids with solo travelers.
Still, the Prius, Civic and some other hybrids use less oil and emit far fewer greenhouse gases than virtually all gas-only models.
In 2000, Virginia lawmakers came up with the carpool perk as a way to encourage sales in the nascent hybrid market. The state's measure countered federal law but was allowed to remain while Congress resolved its position.
The extension moving through the General Assembly could come with new limits. The one-year extension approved by the House yesterday says hybrids bought after July 1, 2006, would not be able to use the HOV lanes on I-95/395.
When the hybrid exemption was instituted, 32 cars in all of Virginia had "clean fuel" tags -- a designation necessary for solo commuters to use HOV lanes. Six years later, more than 8,500 hybrid vehicles are in Northern Virginia, about three-quarters of the state's total of 11,600, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
"Virginia is now the second-largest market in the country for hybrids, after California," Shosteck said, "and [the HOV exemption] is one of the biggest reasons."
Staff writer Chris L. Jenkins contributed to this report.
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