Electric vehicles lose special access to carpool lanes

Cara Nguyen

The program allowed electric vehicles in the carpool lane even when they weren’t carpooling. It was introduced in 1999 in an effort to reduce greenhouse emissions. But this year, congress decided not to renew it.

Drivers will also no longer receive discounted bridge tolls or a federal tax credit when they purchase an electric vehicle.

Commuters must now choose to funnel into regular traffic lanes, switch to public transit, or actually start filling up their cars to meet carpool requirements. Those in the East Bay might find relief in the casual carpool community , where drivers and riders meet at designated pickup locations to cross the Bay Bridge together.

But drivers still have time to figure out their route: ticketing for violators won’t start until December 1