![]() Thus, carpooler congestion costs substantially outweigh the green benefits of hybrids, the researchers have concluded. With the addition of solo-driver hybrids on already congested highways, HOV lane traffic climbs above 30 percent beyond socially optimal levels, according to the research. on weekdays, to an already congested road such as Interstate 10 appends $4,500 per car in annual costs (in pollution and time) to society. creates no congestion or social costs, say the researchers, adding one hybrid driver at 7 a.m. While adding a single hybrid to any HOV lane at 2 a.m. Instead of spurring sales, two-thirds of the sticker registrants had hybrid cars already on the road. ![]() ![]() This allowed them to drive on carpool lanes regardless of the number of occupants in the car. Between August 2005 and June 2011, California law allowed owners of hybrid vehicles achieving at least 45 miles per gallon to purchase a Clean Air Vehicle Sticker for $8. The California law was meant to stimulate sales for highly fuel-efficient, ultra low-emission vehicles, with the goals of reducing dependence on foreign oil and saving money at the gasoline pump. “Well-meaning state legislators in California who tried to spur sales of gas-electric hybrids have unintentionally created a nightmare scenario for carpoolers who use Interstate 10 who are trying to get to work or get home,” Bento said. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. “For commuters, it means further traffic delays, and this becomes a regressive tax on carpoolers – it’s taxing due to their added time,” said study lead author Antonio Bento, associate professor at the Charles H. That includes increased commute times and carbon dioxide emissions, says a new study in the August edition of the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. Cornell economic research shows that lawfully solo-driver hybrids cars are clogging California's carpool lanes on Interstate highways, which defeats the purpose of those lanes.Īllowing single-occupant hybrid cars to use carpool lanes – on some of Los Angeles’ busiest highways during rush hour, no less – creates crushing congestion and about $4,500 per car in adverse social costs annually.
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