The days may be numbered for hybrid car owners who have enjoyed traveling solo in California's carpool lanes.
The stickers granting that privilege to 85,000 hybrid owners are set to expire Jan. 1, 2011. There are proposals in Sacramento to extend the deadline, but they would exclude most of the vehicles that originally qualified for the program, such as the Toyota Prius, the Honda Civic hybrid and the original Honda Insight.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, September 30, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 35 words Type of Material: Correction
Carpool lanes: An article in the Business section on Monday about carpool lane access by hybrid vehicles said that hybrid owner Sharon Delugach owns a 2003 Toyota Prius. She owns a 2003 Honda Civic hybrid.
"We're bummed," said Cathy Margolin, president of the 250-member Orange County Prius Club. "I drive from Newport Beach to Torrance to teach four times a week, and it saves me an hour every day on the 405."
For hybrid owners, losing their stickers would be more than an inconvenience. The carpool lane exemption added $1,000 to $2,000 to the value of a used hybrid. Some used-car dealers say they are already seeing that premium shrink as the deadline gets closer.
"We've definitely seen those Priuses and Civic hybrids move back toward normal pricing," said Carey Caldwell, a local purchasing manager for CarMax, which operates a national chain of used-car dealerships.
The goal of the 2004 law that created the sticker program was to encourage the purchase of advanced-technology vehicles that delivered better fuel economy and produced lower emissions.
Gasoline-electric hybrids with combined city-highway mileage of 45 miles per gallon or better were eligible for a yellow sticker. The number of yellow stickers was capped at 85,000, and the last one was given out in February 2007.
White stickers granting the same carpool-lane exemption were authorized for electric cars and vehicles powered by alternative fuels such as natural gas. There was no limit placed on these stickers, and so far about 9,500 have been given out.
All the stickers were originally set to expire in 2008, but the Legislature extended that deadline to 2011.
Now, lawmakers want to up the ante. A bill by Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) that the Assembly passed this year would extend the carpool lane exemption to 2016 but limit it to drivers of vehicles powered by electricity, natural gas or some other alternative fuel.
A competing Senate bill included hybrids but only those that achieve city-highway fuel economy of 65 mpg or better -- well beyond the official ratings of the current crop of hybrids.
"What we're saying is that the hybrid isn't good enough anymore," said Adam Keigwin, chief of staff for Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco), sponsor of the Senate bill.
