Single occupant electric vehicles retained access to carpool lanes in California, while hybrid owners lost it on July 1st.
Zero emissions vehicles, including all-electric vehicles (EVs), but not hybrids, e.g. Prius, with only one occupant retain the privilege to use California's carpool lanes if they purchased a qualifying white sticker. However, a proposal to deny them free access to two new express (also called high occupancy toll) lanes and instead require them to pay the toll just like any other single-occupancy-vehicle has upset many of them and their boosters.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority "plans to convert 25 miles of carpool lanes on the 10 and 110 freeways into toll (or express) lanes. Carpoolers and buses will be able to use the lanes for free, while solo drivers - even those in cars that could travel in regular high-occupancy-vehicle lanes without restriction - will have to pay up to $1.40 a mile during peak rush-hour traffic.
It has riled electric-car shoppers and alternative-fuel-vehicle advocates who worry that this is the first step in chipping away at a California tradition of letting solo drivers of autos with new technology and low emissions onto carpool lanes." (Note that the proposal is for high-occupancy-toll lanes as opposed to high occupancy vehicle, or carpool lanes.)
"In London, which has pioneered such "congestion pricing" efforts, drivers of clean-fuel vehicles pay nothing or deeply discounted rates to use carpool lanes, and that is driving the purchase of electric and other clean fuel vehicles in that city,aid John Boesel, chief executive of Calstart, a clean-transportation technology trade group in Pasadena.
And toll bridges in the San Francisco Bay Area also give electric and natural-gas vehicles the same discounted rates as carpools during peak hours."
Thanks to E&E Publishing - Greenwire
FULL STORY: Solo drivers of low-emission autos fume over fees to use carpool lanes

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie