Colorado Looks for Hybrid Cars in the HOV Lanes

The Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is considering allowing hybrid cars into the HOV lanes as solo drivers. Back in 2003, Colorado wrote up a law allowing hybrid cars in, but it was never implemented. CDOT asked the EPA to write up some conditions on allowances for hybrid cars, but the EPA never did it.

"The law currently states that a hybrid is fuel-efficient if it gets 50 percent more miles to the gallon than its counterpart," said Stacey Stegman, the Colorado Department of Transportation's director of public information. "You could have a Hummer that gets 10 miles to the gallon, and then they come out with a hybrid model that gets 15. But still there's the normal Honda Civic that gets 30 mpg. It just doesn't make sense to exclude the Civic over the Hummer."

But now CDOT is looking to set up a real world experiment on what kind of effect having hybrid cars in the HOV lanes would have. They want to set up a lottery so that 2,000 lucky winners can have access.

If implemented, the drivers would have access to CDOT HOT lanes and HOV lanes; lanes on Highway 82 between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, Santa Fe Drive south of downtown, U.S. 36 and Interstate 25 north of downtown. But that doesn't include E-470 and the Northwest Parkway, which are owned by private companies.

Hybrid car owners interested in the pass can email info@dot.state.co.us to get on a list for notification when they can sign up for the stickers that would allow hybrids to freely drive the HOT and HOV lanes.

There is one reservation, however. If clogging does occur, CDOT reserves the right to charge hybrid car owners a toll for the lanes.