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Get Back In The Mob With The Rest Of Us
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Here in L.A. and in some other areas, you can drive in the carpool lanes without carpooling if a) you have a zero-emission electric or hybrid car, or b) you pay for it using a transponder. Los Angeles County's Board of Supervisors just voted to end the free ride for electric and hybrid cars, and if you'd bought one of them because it would let you ride solo in the carpool lanes, you'd be upset. But there's also the idea that letting them ride free was subsidizing wealthy people in expensive Teslas. And, let's face it, those lanes are kind of stupid. When they work, they're generally fairly empty, since if they're at the proper speed, there can't be too many cars in them. When too many people use them, which is why they're ending the solo bonus for electrics and hybrids, they don't help traffic at all. And most "carpools" are families or others who wouldn't be driving separately anyway. They SHOULD just add the carpool lanes as additional lanes for the main lines of traffic, but they won't do that. (Los Angeles Times)
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