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Boston Massachusetts May Allow Hybrid Cars In Car Pool Lanes January 2005State officials are considering allowing hybrid cars with a single occupant to use car pool lanes usually reserved for vehicles with two or more occupants as a way to encourage the use of the more environmentally friendly cars.The Massachusetts policy, under discussion between transportation officials and environmental agencies, would apply to the six-mile zipper lane on the Southeast Expressway during rush hours, and the two mile high-occupancy lane on Interstate 93 southbound from Somerville to the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge, The Boston Globe reported Sunday. The high occupancy lanes are usually wide open during rush hour, allowing for quicker trips in and out of the city when the regular travel lanes are often clogged with slow-moving traffic. "No decision has been made, but the idea of providing an incentive for the purchase of clean vehicles is a very attractive one, especially as more choices become available to consumers," said Philip Hailer, a spokesman for the Office of Commonwealth Development, which oversees transportation and environmental affairs. The idea is in line with other environmentally friendly initiatives by the administration of Gov. Mitt Romney. Two years ago he promised to get rid of most state-owned sport utility vehicles. He has also suggested charging higher registration fees for vehicles with low gas mileage, although that idea has not been instituted. "Anything we can do to reduce air pollution by encouraging the use of more fuel-efficient vehicles is good thing," said Jeremy Marin, a spokesman for the Massachusetts chapter of the Sierra Club. He even suggested tax incentives of the purchase of hybrid vehicles, which use a combination of gasoline and electric power and can get close to 50 miles per gallon. The state would wait for some sort of national policy before opening the high occupancy lanes to hybrid vehicles, officials said, because of confusion in some other states that have tried the practice. In California and Virginia, some commuters complained that the hybrid vehicles are already so popular that no further incentives were needed. It was found that Virginia highways were getting swamped by the vehicles. Federal approval for such policies has not been granted. A standard rule, which would become part of Federal Highway Administration guidelines, has been suggested in different bills, which continue to languish. Virginia has been permitting hybrids in car-pool lanes even without federal approval. The automotive industry estimates there are 250,000 hybrid vehicles on American roads today. Manufacturers are expanding options to include SUVs and light trucks, and by 2010 there may be as many as 50 hybrid models on the market. There would also be other smaller problems to overcome before instituting the policy in Massachusetts. For example, the hybrids would need some sort of marking to make them easy to spot by state troopers assigned to monitor car pool lanes. SOURCE: TurnTo10.com | ||
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