By KELLY HANNON
Veteran hybrid vehicle owners could have another year to drive solo or in pairs in Interstate 95 and 395's carpool lanes.
For drivers who bought and registered their clean special fuel vehicle in Virginia before July 1, 2006, several bills have been submitted in the Virginia General Assembly to extend a passenger exemption.
Under the proposed legislation, these drivers would have through July 1, 2011, to drive in High Occupancy Vehicle lanes at rush hour on I-95/395, regardless of the number of passengers.
The current exemption expires on July 1.
The rule has allowed hundreds of Fredericksburg area drivers to commute alone or with one passenger in HOV lanes on the I-95/395 corridor. All other vehicles in those lanes must have three occupants between the hours of 6 and 9 a.m. and 3:30 and 6 p.m. on weekdays.
The exemption began when hybrids were relatively new to encourage Virginia drivers to buy the fuel-efficient cars with fewer emissions.
The assembly has extended the passenger exemption in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, always with wide margins of support.
The July 1, 2006, cutoff was chosen by state legislators as a compromise that year.
It kept a promise to early hybrid owners that they could use the fuel-efficient vehicles in HOV lanes with fewer occupants. But it capped a growing percentage of single- or two-passenger hybrids in HOV lanes.
The debate over the rule will be raised again in 2010.
Several bills with one-year extensions have been submitted in the House of Delegates.
Del. Thomas Greason, R-Potomac Falls, submitted one of the bills extending the exemption, H.B. 214.
Greason said he thought it would help constituents who have lengthy commutes. He received inquiries about extending it from hybrid-owning constituents in his district who drive long dist- ances.
The number of qualifying hybrid vehicles is small enough that it's not a significant percentage of traffic in the HOV lanes, he said.
If it takes one car out of the heavily congested general lanes and moves it to HOV lanes, "Then I think that's a benefit," Greason said.
Greason's bill would also give all clean special fuel vehicle owners another year to use HOV lanes at rush hour with one occupant on the Dulles Toll Road and Interstate 66.
Other bills allowing a one-year hybrid extension on I-95/395 have been submitted by Del. Kenneth Plum, D-Reston, and Del. Timothy Hugo, R-Centreville.
However, there may be some opposition in the Virginia Senate.
Sen. George Barker, D- Alexandria, and Sen. Charles Colgan, D-Manassas, have submitted a hybrid exemption bill identical to those in the House of Delegates, except that the exemption would not apply to vehicles on I-95/395 or I-66.
Barker said ending the exemption on those interstates was the recommendation of a General Assembly-created subcommittee that's been studying regional rapid transportation in Northern Virginia for two years.
"What they've come to find is that as more people are using carpools and buses and those types of things, the congestion has continued to increase. It's bad not only on 95 and 395, but it's worse on 66," Barker said.
Congestion in HOV lanes has a ripple-down effect, Barker said.
Commuter buses, carpools and vanpools move slower, he said. For at least one operator, the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission, this translates to fewer people riding the commuter buses, Barker said, driving up the bus service subsidy.
For hybrids on I-95/395, Greason's bill limits the extension to one year because new federal regulation of the lanes may be coming.
The Federal Highway Administration has allowed Virginia's passenger exemption for hybrid vehicles through Sept 30, 2009, under federal legislation called SAFETEA-LU.
The same legislation is still being enforced under
However, new legislation could change the standards.
Federal Highway Administration spokeswoman Nancy Singer said the agency's interest in HOV lane regulation is traffic flow.
"One of the concerns we would have is primarily whether or not the additional vehicles are in fact creating more congestion," Singer said. "There is the idea that we don't want the facility to be degraded."
Any extension would affect a limited group of hybrid owners.
There are 12,430 vehicles in Virginia registered with clean special fuel license dating before July 1, 2006, according to Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. After that date, there have been 10,014 vehicles registered with clean special fuel plates in Virginia.
Statewide, there are approximately 7.5 million registered vehicles.
Drivers can keep their pre-July 1, 2006 clean special fuel license plate, and continue using HOV lanes with one or two occupants, if they purchase a new qualifying clean special fuel vehicle.
The issue could eventually be moot if High Occupancy Toll lanes are built along I-95/395 by a public-private partnership between Virginia and two companies, Fluor and Transurban.
Vehicles with three or more occupants could use HOT lanes for free, but vehicles with one or two occupants, including all hybrids, would pay a toll.
Kelly Hannon: 540/374-5436
Email: khannon@freelancestar.com
The number of vehicles with clean special fuel license plates in Virginia registered prior to July 1, 2006, exceeds the number of vehicles registered after that date.
The license plates have different designs, and the pre-July 2006 plate is white. The post-July 2006 plate is blue.
12,430
Number of vehicles before July 2006
10,014
Number of vehicles after
Del. Christopher Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, submitted a bill that would let any active-duty military member drive in HOV lanes on Interstate 264 and Interstate 64 if they are traveling to or from the Naval Operations Base and the Naval Air Station at the Norfolk Naval Base, regardless of the number of occupants in the car, or the type of car they drive.
Del. Ron Villanueva, R-Virginia Beach, would allow all military personnel, active or reserve, to use HOV lanes in the Hampton Roads area at all times, regardless of the number of passengers or vehicle type.