Uneasy Rhetoric

Hybrids don’t belong in the carpool lane. There. I said it.

Carpool lanes are not only air quality tools, they are traffic alleviation tools. Allowing a hybrid with only one person in it into a carpool lane does nothing to improve air quality beyond what the hybrid is already doing simply by existing, and it does virtually nothing to reduce the number of cars on the road. Only a carpool, preferably in an already fuel efficient car, can do that. Now, if you carpool in a hybrid, you earn a gold star!

Being able to drive a hybrid in a carpool lane is simply a perk for those who feel a certain sad sense of entitlement because they’re “going the extra mile” for the environment. Is it going to encourage people to buy hybrids? Given their significantly higher prices, I seriously doubt it.