When do you expect the 75,000th will be issued?

 

Hi All:

___I might actually become a CA. resident in the next year depending on the wife’s job transfer. If so, we would be moving to the Alameda/Oakland area? Would a CA. HOV lane sticker be needed for someone traveling in a hybrid heading east or west across the 5 bridges leading into and out of Alameda or am I jumping to gun on this?

___And if an HOV sticker(s) would be beneficial, save one for me please

___Thanks in advance.

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

Are you asking about the town of Alameda? I'm asking because there's a bit of (unintentional) ambiguity in your question, since Oakland is in Alameda county.

Anyhow, if you're thinking of Alameda the town with its bridges and tunnel across the Oakland estuary, HOV stickers won't do you any good there. There are no carpool lanes on those bridges or through the tunnel. The stickers are an absolute lifesaver for people commuting between the East Bay and San Francsico. Or, if you live in Alameda and commute to the Silicon Valley a sticker will come in real handy on I-880.

 

Good question. The SJ Mercury has been tracking this and here's the latest I have seen:

This thread has some good info. At the rate they are going, they should last well into next spring, but there could be a spike come January for all of the people waiting for the tax credit (probably not much though since hybrid supply is limited).

 

Let me know if you do, I'll come visit you for some hands-on training

The stickers will be very nice if you travel on any of the Bay Area freeways or across any of the bay bridges.

 

An earlier Mercury News story said:
As of early October, the DMV had issued about 27,000 carpool-access stickers to drivers of the Prius, Civic and Insight.
Published on November 11, 2005, Page 2A, San Jose Mercury News (CA)

So it looks like about 1300 stickers are being issued per week lately. At that rate they should last till June, more or less.

 

Hi ElanC:

___Thanks for the reply. Her job location would be in Alameda itself. I looked it up on Google and it shows an island! I see Oakland just north east of there and that is probably where we would end up to begin with? I see I-880 on the map and it looks like a decent cross county Interstate. When we were driving through San Francisco last year, there was a $5.00 toll IIRC for crossing the GG bridge unless you were an HOV. My wife, son, and I were in a Buick LeSabre so it was a free toll Do the Alameda bridges/tunnels have tolls that allow an HOV (HOV badged hybrid) a free pass if they are in fact toll bridges?

___Thanks in advance.

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

No tolls across the estuary between Oakland and Alameda. These are really small bridges, similar to the bridges across the canal in downtown Chicago.

As for saving the tolls across the Golden Gate, Bay Bridge, etc., no dice. Anyone getting a sticker in the counties with cross-bay bridges - Alameda, Contra Costa, San Franscisco, etc., must first get a special Fastrak transponder. The transponder will charge you automatically for the toll as you drive onto the bridge in the HOV lane without stopping.

Only alternative fuel zero emission vehicles like my RAV4 EV and the Civic GX are eligible to cross the bridges without paying a toll.

 

My wife just called me to say they came in the mail today. Sent in my application on 11/21 and they cashed my check 12/8. Shockingly, my wife refused to bring them to work for me so I could drive home in the HOV lane tonight

 

Got them tonight, #39918. Bought the HCHII on 11/23, mailed the app on 11/25, check cleared on 12/14.