Transportation Committee Advances bill to allow BEV's in HOV lanes

[joelm]

I just noticed this article. Does anyone have any insight into whether this has a chance of becoming law and how long the process usually takes? I would imagine even if/after the law is passed, there will be a delay with the state figures out the requirements for identifying vehicles. I think in CA, cars get stickers to put on the side of the car so troopers can easily identify them at high speed.

MA Transportation Committee advances bill that would expand electric car perks

 

[EdA]

Encouraging...now add an HOV lane to the Pike!

 

[3mp_kwh]

Updating to show Ways and Means Committee review.
Bill H.4282
So, still moving. No vote yet.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

Updating to show Ways and Means Committee review.
Bill H.4282
So, still moving. No vote yet.

I think it's important to note one of the revisions of this bill from its inception.

This passage is new as of May 12th:

SECTION 6. The secretary of transportation, in consultation with the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, shall conduct a study examining the advisability and feasibility of assessing surcharges, levies or other assessments to offset projected gas tax revenue loss from the purchase and/or operation of zero-emission vehicles. The study shall examine practices in other states and shall include input from electric vehicle manufacturers, dealers, and trade associations, the Zero Emission Vehicle Commission, electric vehicle and hydrogen fuel cell vehicle manufacturers, electric vehicle charging station manufacturers and hydrogen providers, as well as transportation, environmental and clean energy advocacy groups. For the purposes of this section, zero-emission vehicle shall be defined as a fuel cell vehicle or a vehicle that uses a plug-in battery to provide all or part of the motive power of the vehicle, including battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, or plug-in fuel cell vehicles. The report shall be filed with the clerks of the senate and house of representatives, the senate and house committees on ways and means, and the joint committee on transportation not later than April 1, 2017.


TL;DR, they want to tack an EV Tax on to offset the loss of gas tax revenue.

 

[djplong]

I did the math. In order for me to pay for all the fuel taxes (federal and state) that would be 'lost' when I 'go EV', it would cost me under $20/mo. That's based on my Camry (for fuel economy), the number of gallons of gas I go through in a year (I've been tracking this for 4 years) and the amount of federal and state taxes per gallon.

If they auto-hit my credit card for $20/month, I don't think I'd have a problem with that.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

I did the math. In order for me to pay for all the fuel taxes (federal and state) that would be 'lost' when I 'go EV', it would cost me under $20/mo. That's based on my Camry (for fuel economy), the number of gallons of gas I go through in a year (I've been tracking this for 4 years) and the amount of federal and state taxes per gallon.

If they auto-hit my credit card for $20/month, I don't think I'd have a problem with that.

The way they collect these right now is during your registration/renewal process. So if you're in NH plates, driving on MA roads, there is currently no mechanism in place for MA to collect revenue from you for usage.

But....we're dealing with politicians here, I'm sure they're all off on summer break, thinking of new and exciting ways to use modern technology to stick their hands in your pockets.

 

[djplong]

They don't, by and large, get my fuel tax money as it is. I live on the border and *almost* always fill up close to home. I can't remember the last time I filled up in MA. From the MA point of view, it's the status quo. NH and the Feds get my tax money.

 

[ModelNforNerd]

They don't, by and large, get my fuel tax money as it is. I live on the border and *almost* always fill up close to home. I can't remember the last time I filled up in MA. From the MA point of view, it's the status quo. NH and the Feds get my tax money.

The Feds dish that money out to the states, so in a way, your contribution eventually trickles down to MA.

 

[dpicarillo]

I was wondering if anyone knows if the final bill had any language about EV being able to use HOV lane. I found the Senate version that talked about a study being completed by Oct 2017, yet i couldn't find the language on the Mass.gov site or any other info

thanks

 

[Joel Weber]

Encouraging...now add an HOV lane to the Pike!

A highway lane can carry maybe 1800 or so vehicles per hour (3600 seconds per hour divided by 2 second following distance). And those tend to be single occupancy vehicles.

Adding one or two trains per hour on the Worcester Line will add basically the same capacity as a new highway lane. (And we need to get Tesla or someone else to build replacement trucks for the existing commuter rail passenger cars with batteries and electric motors built in to the trucks.)

The real key to addressing congestion is to fix the pricing: lower the commuter rail fares (possibly even to $0) to encourage people to get out of their cars, and also implement congestion tolling on whatever roads can be tolled.

Having the congestion toll have one price for pure ICE, half that price for BEVs, and maybe a 30% discount vs pure ICE for plug in hybrids and 15% discount vs pure ICE for hybrids without plugs might work.