Start­ing in Sep­tem­ber 2025, Cal­i­for­nia car­pool lanes will only be open to actu­al car­pools, bar­ring hybrid, elec­tric, and com­pressed nat­ur­al gas vehi­cles.

Writ­ing in the San Fran­cis­co Chron­i­cle, Michael Cabanat­u­an notes that extend­ing the pro­gram would require action from both the U.S. Con­gress and the state leg­is­la­ture. “John Good­win, a com­mis­sion spokesper­son, said it seems unlike­ly that the cur­rent Con­gress, with its antipa­thy toward Cal­i­for­nia as well as elec­tric cars, will autho­rize the exten­sion of a pro­gram intend­ed to pro­mote the sales of alter­na­tive fuel vehi­cles.”

Since 1999, ‘clean air’ vehi­cles have been allowed to use Cal­i­for­nia car­pool lanes regard­less of the num­ber of pas­sen­gers. Today, a total of 411,133 vehi­cles have the per­mit, accord­ing to the Cal­i­for­nia Depart­ment of Motor Vehi­cles. But with more elec­tric vehi­cles hit­ting the road, con­ges­tion in car­pool lanes, in some cas­es, rivals that in reg­u­lar lanes.