Multi Billion Dollar Joke

[watermock]

Not only do Hybrids break down twice as often as high efficiency compacts, we now have the greenies demanding their own HOV lanes.

So if your politically correct, you can drive alone. The HOV lanes are a pathetic disaster that isn't working whatsoever. In fact, when I was there years ago, it would of been more efficient to simply open the lanes to traffic.

But hear this one!

In California, bill aims to give hybrid cars a pass
Solo drivers would get HOV permits
By Jordan Rau, Los Angeles Times | July 25, 2004

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- With gas prices so high as to cause vertigo, California's elected officials are racing to shower fuel-efficient hybrid-car owners with the kinds of exclusive road privileges all drivers covet.

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Los Angeles is considering granting free parking this fall to the vehicles, which run on both gas and electricity. In Sacramento, lawmakers are on the verge of approving a measure that would admit solo hybrid drivers into car pool lanes.

Yet even as automakers lobby furiously to include their hybrids, transportation specialists are alarmed at any new additions to California's high-occupancy vehicle, or HOV, lanes. Already, 23 of the state's 56 car pool lanes are at or near capacity.

"The lanes . . . are a precious resource for travel," said Martin Wachs, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, who owns a Toyota Prius hybrid. "I can think of no rational reason why we should give away capacity to vehicles that will contribute as much to congestion, just because they're clean fuel."

Specialists who have studied traffic flow say that just a few dozen extra vehicles in a car pool lane in an hour can cause a noticeable slowdown. There were 23,983 hybrids registered in California as of May, and state officials anticipate the number to increase more than fourfold over the next three years.

In written testimony, the California Association of Councils of Government last month called the bill irresponsible and said it "fails to recognize the extent of traffic congestion."

San Francisco Bay Area transportation officials have raised the strongest objections. They say the measure could scuttle their efforts to encourage more commuters to use express buses, and could cost as much as $2 million a year in lost toll revenue because drivers in some car pool lanes cross toll bridges for free.

Brian D. Taylor, director of UCLA's Institute of Transportation Studies, said the bill was "bad policy" because it would attempt to motivate one goal -- energy efficiency -- by altering high-occupancy vehicle lanes that were designed to address the different objective of improving traffic flow.

"Why don't we allow nurses and schoolteachers to use HOV lanes? They're certainly doing good things," Taylor said. "Do you want to say, 'We want people to eat more roughage, let's let those people use HOV lanes as well?' Just because there are a lot of benefits of hybrid technology, that doesn't mean there's a logical nexus between that and HOV lanes."

The bill would attempt to prevent congestion by limiting the number of hybrid cars with the special privileges to 75,000. Each car would get a distinctive decal so police would know it was permitted in the lanes.

The California Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the number of hybrids will increase to 110,000 cars in the state within three years. About half of them are expected to qualify under the bill's restriction that hybrids must get at least 45 miles per gallon to receive car pool permits. Aside from the Prius, only two other available models meet the bill's criteria: the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Honda Insight.

Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, an Agoura Hills Democrat and the bill's author, said the limits were designed to get automakers and car buyers to favor models that conserved the most gas. "Just the cleanest vehicles out there should qualify," she said. "I've heard from quite a few people that they would trade in their existing car for a hybrid because of this carrot."

Those limits, however, have made a number of transportation officials question how the bill would actually persuade more people to buy the already popular hybrids -- especially because there already are waiting lists for would-be Prius purchasers.

Michele St. Martin, a spokeswoman for the California EPA, said the visibility of the hybrids in the car pool lanes and the publicity from the bill would provide significant motivation for more drivers to buy hybrids.

But as it stands, even if the Pavley bill passes, California cannot allow the hybrids into car pool lanes against US law without jeopardizing millions in federal aid. That is because Washington provides highway money only for car pool lanes that are restricted to vehicles with at least two occupants.

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I am still trying to figure out the big advantage of hybrids. It might improve, but they are significantly more apt to have computer problems, yet alone the fact that most engine wear occurs during start up. That means a hybrid engine, allready underpowered and likely to need battery replacement, will also burn up an engine sooner. All these things are ignored. Now, the rich want to have their own lane while they act like they are "environmentally concious" which is a joke. they just want a free lane to drive in alone.

What is so damn amusing is a 1.3 civic is allready able to produce practically zero emmisons and get 50 MPG.

Meanwhile, some Semi is pushing 100 time the emmisions in stop and go traffic.

But don't let reality stop anyone. It's California.

[Taco John]

Who gets the blame for not starting a Manhattan-type project in the 70's when these terroist bastards first started grabbing us by the nuts?

We're 20-years late on this stuff.

[Taco John]

And HOV lanes make me angry... I hate being stuck in traffic and seeing these empty lanes...

[watermock]

They have manequins.

Buy one.

They do!

[watermock]

Originally Posted by Taco John

Who gets the blame for not starting a Manhattan-type project in the 70's when these terroist bastards first started grabbing us by the nuts?

We're 20-years late on this stuff.

That is what I would of asked Michael Moore. All of a sudden, after 6 months Bush was supposed to have the intelligence agencies reworked?

There were all kinds of attacks before! I have named them before, why name them again.

We are moving into a new era and I want to bomb.

Hey Taco, I was going to give a separated at birth the other day...



Now that's a Moderator.

[watermock]

LeMay was Crazy, but he scared the Soviets.