The fastest car on the road

Hybrid drivers shave 30 minutes off their commute time, each way

April 5, 2006

By DANE GOLDEN
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

Here's a question: What's the fastest car on the road?

The answer may surprise you. It's not a BMW, a Porsche or a Corvette.

If you live in Petaluma and work in Oakland or San Francisco, the car that's going to get you there the shortest average time each morning is a hybrid vehicle. One of three hybrids, actually, the Toyota Prius, the hybrid Honda Civic and the Honda Insight.

This is due to a California law that went into effect last August, allowing participating vehicles that get more than 45 miles per gallon and have emissions below a certain level to use the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane, aka carpool lane, when driven alone.

The bill limits participation to the first 75,000 applicants, and Californians have wasted no time in signing up. To date, more than 50,000 vehicles have been issued the mandatory little yellow stickers.

Additionally, all Bay Area hybrid applicants must also obtain a special FasTrak transponder to qualify, because although the carpool lane is free for these hybrids, the bridge fees are not.

Actually, many types of vehicles qualify, including various electric and natural gas vehicles, but the hybrid Prius, Civic and Insight are the only ones being mass-produced. There are also other hybrids on the market, but they do not meet the law's mileage and emission requirements.

The new law means smooth sailing on local highways for some.

"The other day there was a real thick traffic jam in Marin, and I just flew by," said Petaluman Margy Boyle.

Boyle said that with her old car, she'd leave at 6:30 a.m. just to skip traffic, even if she didn't need to get to the city until 9 a.m. or 10 a.m.

Now she leaves at 7 a.m. But instead of taking an hour and a half, her commute usually takes about 45 minutes.

Boyle likes the car because it shaves time off her commute and it promotes a society that consumes less energy. Also, it keeps her stress level down.

"I'm just very gleeful when I whiz by everybody," she said.

Mike Cochran, president of Petaluma-headquartered North Bay Drywall and Construction, said his company purchased two Honda Civic hybrids in December, after a two-month wait at the dealer. Company employees use the vehicles on their trips throughout the Bay Area.

Cochran said the company bought them for the fuel economy and environmental reasons, but also, certainly, to save employees time.

He said the hybrid vehicles can cut employee driving time as much as 45 minutes to an hour, depending on where they're going.

"The whole backup in Marin can wear down anybody," he said. "If you're able to make up that time, it's much less stressful for you."

Ellen Hathaway travels to San Francisco or San Jose twice a week in her work as a recruiter of technology executives. She got her new Prius in August, just before the exemption went into effect. She also purchased her vehicle primarily for the higher gas mileage, but knew the new law was pending.

Hathaway said that when she's driving home through Marin, she sometimes actually waits for the rush hour (and the carpool lane) to begin at 4:30, as it's faster than commuting during the non-peak hours. She's cut her time home from the bridge from an hour and a half to an hour.

She's not the only one who's doing this.

"You can't believe how many hybrids are in the carpool lane with me," she said. "There are a lot. People buy them for that reason, I think."

But what if the carpool lane incentive made everyone buy hybrids, clogging the carpool lanes?

"That would be a good problem to have," said Hathaway. "Think about all the fuel we would save."

Unfortunately for hybrid drivers, the law expires on Jan. 1, 2008, when they must return to using the regular lanes.

"I hope it lasts longer than two years," Margy Boyle said.

(Contact Dane Golden at dgolden@arguscourier.com)

CAPTION: Ellen Hathaway commutes solo in the carpool lane using this sticker available only to hybrid owners. She saves half an hour each way on her San Francisco commute.