New federal and state rules giving hybrid vehicles free access to high occupancy vehicle lanes may end up undermining the original purpose of such lanes: to reduce traffic congestion.
A 2001 state law requires giving hybrids free access to HOV lanes, even if they have just one occupant. Colorado Department of Transportation officials held off writing regulations to cover hybrids in HOV lanes until the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a list of eligible vehicles, which it did last month. But even if the new rules are judged by the goal of improving fuel economy instead of reducing congestion, they seem to raise as many questions as they answer.
The hybrids sanctioned by the new rules for HOV lanes often turn in worse fuel economy than other vehicles that will be turned away. And in almost all cases, a standard vehicle with two or three occupants will produce better fuel economy per passenger mile than a hybrid speeding along with just one occupant.
The problem is that the EPA compared hybrids only to gasoline-powered vehicles of the same general size and type. At minimum, a gasoline/electric hybrid had to get at least 25 percent better fuel economy than a gasoline-powered model of a similar type. But that means the Ford Escape hybrid, which gets combined city/ highway mileage of 26 miles per gallon (according to Consumer Reports magazine), is allowed into HOV lanes while a standard Ford Focus, which turns in 28 mpg, is shunted aside. Likewise, the Honda Accord hybrid’s 25 mpg earns it a slot in the HOV lane while the Honda FIT, a 34-mpg miser, has to stay in the congested lanes.
Of course, as long as there is plenty of extra room in the HOV lane, there’s no harm in letting in hybrids. But Colorado may be trying to accommodate too many priorities in the HOV lane that runs from downtown Denver north on Interstate 25 to Adams County. In addition to serving its primary use as a bus lane and allowing cars with at least two passengers, that HOV lane now also allows single-occupant vehicles to pay a toll to escape the more congested single-driver lanes.
But if buses, car pools, hybrids and cash customers are all allowed, the HOV lanes may eventually become as congested as other parts of I-25, eliminating the time savings that encourage commuters to form car pools to use HOV lanes in the first place. Eventually, free-riding hybrids may force CDOT to ban toll-paying customers from the HOV lanes. But then taxpayers will have to pay maintenance costs now defrayed by the tolls.
