[arizona charlie]

On August 25th, the California Senate approved by a vote of 29 to 7 bill AB2628 to grant 75,000 permits to be issued to owners of hybrid cars. This bill if it receives final approval by the California assembly will allow cars with only one occupant to use car pool lanes. The bill now heads back to the California Assembly for its final approval.

Hoorah!!

Arizona Charlie

 

[Brian]

So it has just one last stop? Just the California Assembly and then we get our HOV permit on Jan 1st, '05?

 

[singpilot]

So how do you get one of the permits?

 

[CaPriusLover]

I thought the Feds still have a say in the matter.

 

[Sev]

AB2628 has already passed the Assembly. It is being considered again there to accept the amendments that were added in the Senate. There will be no problem with acceptance as the amendments were made with full approval of Representative Pavley. The Assembly can take the measure up any time after August 26. Thanks for all the letters and e-mails that were sent to Senators and Assemblymembers. Apparently we carry more weight than Bill Ford! Governor Schwartzenegger supports the bill and will sign it some time in September. All we will need then is the federal legislation allowing states to make such changes. IF we are lucky, this will all happen to allow us to drive in the lanes as of Jan. 1.

 

[LouieNet]

AB2628 has already passed the Assembly. It is being considered again there to accept the amendments that were added in the Senate. There will be no problem with acceptance as the amendments were made with full approval of Representative Pavley.

Weeeee!

Here's the text of the bill as it stands today:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/bill/asm/ab_2601-2650/ab_2628_bill_20040823_amended_sen.html

You can look up "2628" on this page for the bill's history:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html

Louie

 

[03Jill]

We here in VA have been able to drive in the HOV lanes with only 1 person in the car for awhile.

Jill

 

[LouieNet]

getting a permit

So how do you get one of the permits?

I would think that the procedure will follow those already available for cars meeting today's requirements. Have a look at the Calif DMV website:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg1000.htm

Here is some more information from the California Air Resources Board on the topic:
AB71 Eligible Vehicles - Single Occupant Carpool Lane Use Stickers
Why can't the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight get a carpool lane sticker?

Louie

 

[LouieNet]

Prius rental

We here in VA have been able to drive in the HOV lanes with only 1 person in the car for awhile.

Hmm....Jill, I'll be traveling to VA on business in October. How does it work out there? Does the Prius need a sticker in the window? Do you think I would be able to rent a Prius already with a sticker?

Thanks,
Louie

P.S. I'll refrain from replying to every post.

 

[mrv]

Re: Prius rental

We here in VA have been able to drive in the HOV lanes with only 1 person in the car for awhile.

Hmm....Jill, I'll be traveling to VA on business in October. How does it work out there? Does the Prius need a sticker in the window? Do you think I would be able to rent a Prius already with a sticker?

Thanks,
Louie

P.S. I'll refrain from replying to every post.

VA managed to get a bill allowing AFVs in their HOV lanes grandfathered in. The bill is set to expire sometime soon (2006?). The Feds aren't big fans of it...
Anyhow, a VA hybrid has to apply for a special VA AFV license plate, and only VA hybrids bearing the AFV plate, or carrying the required number of passengers, can ride solo in the VA HOV lanes.

 

[LouieNet]

Re: Prius rental

Thanks, Michelle! You're always so knowledgeable and helpful. I've come to respect you very much.

Take care!
Louie

 

[Daniel]

So with only 75,000 permits being issued, it is basically a give-away to people who've already bought a hybrid, or maybe have one already on order, rather than an incentive to buy one, as the waiting list would make it problematic whether someone ordering one now would be able to get a permit in time. ???

 

[CaPriusLover]

So with only 75,000 permits being issued, it is basically a give-away to people who've already bought a hybrid, or maybe have one already on order, rather than an incentive to buy one, as the waiting list would make it problematic whether someone ordering one now would be able to get a permit in time. ???

For people who already own one or are on a waiting list, they shuold have no problem gettting a permit. I think I heard about 6 months ago that they estimate 10000 prius on California highways. With 75000 permits, it will still be an insentive. Based on the waiting list, I'm wondering if there will be 75000 Prius on the road by the time the permits expire...

But also think of this as a reward for those people who purchased the car without expecting this insentive.

 

[mrv]

through the end of July, 2004, Toyota has sold 92877 Prius in the USA.

usually CA amounts to 1/5 of all US auto sales, so figuring 1/5 of 92877 that's 18575 Prius in CA as of the end of July.

That's not taking into account hybrid Civics and Insights, which I'd guess is about equal to Prius sales to date when combined.

so, there's still enough permits out there...

 

[LouieNet]

AB2628 passes Assembly, goes to Governor

The Assembly and Senate passed AB2628, by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, which allows hybrid cars to use the state’s car-pool lanes with only one occupant. The bill goes to the governor.

Assembly
Yes 41
No 28

News tidbits from:

• Santa Cruz Sentinel[/*:m:38gept5l]
• SFGate.com[/*:m:38gept5l]
• Inside Bay Area[/*:m:38gept5l]

Louie

 

[CaPriusLover]

Great information, thanks!

 

[TimeFor]

So If I got on the waiting list tomorrow... There is a chance I could not get a permit.

But here is a question. If I go out and just buy one. Pay in Full and have the dealer order it for me... Isn't it mine that day. Wouldn't I have all the paper work on my car to register it?

So why couldn't I apply for a permit while I'm still waiting for delivery?

 

[CaPriusLover]

Well, I don't think you can just go out and buy one. The reason for this is that you really can't "order" a prius. You go on a waiting list and you tell the dealer what car you want (color and option package). The dealer does not send your request to Toyota. Rather, as each car comes in, the first person on the waiting list is asked if they want that car. If they don't, the second person is asked ... on down the line until someone takes it. So you may find yourself with a car that has a different option package than you requested.

Is it possible to purchase a car if you don't know how much it will cost?

Besides, I really don't think there will be a problem gettting a permit if you go on a waiting list right now.

 

[LouieNet]

Schwarzenegger signs bill

Excerpts from SFGate.com:

Schwarzenegger signs bill allowing hybrids to use carpool lanes.

Rebuffing lobbying by the chairman of the Ford Motor Co., Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday that will let thousands of single-occupant hybrid vehicles use carpool lanes, which supporters hope will prompt more consumers to buy the fuel-efficient, low-emission cars.

[deleted]

The new law is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, but it also needs federal approval to be implemented because federal funds help pay for carpool lanes. A bill pending in Congress would grant that approval.

The full article is available online:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... DT0119.DTL

Louie

 

[CaPriusLover]

Great news!! Thanks for the update!