How long did it take to get your CAV stickers in California?

[mikeandrie]

As in the title -- if you recently (say in the last year) ordered the CAV/HOV stickers from California DMV, how long did it take you to get them?

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[devmach-e]

I think it took about 6 or 7 weeks. My dealer ordered the stickers for me at the time of purchase, so that helped speed up the process.

 

[DevSecOps]

Forever, because I never got them. I think it's unethical to drive in a "High Occupancy Vehicle" lane because you purchased an EV. I hope they end that program soon!

HOV was designed to lessen traffic by encouraging people to car-pool. It wasn't designed for entitled EV owners to drive solo, which is the only reason you would need a sticker.

 

[mikeandrie]

Forever, because I never got them. I think it's unethical to drive in a "High Occupancy Vehicle" lane because you purchased an EV. I hope they end that program soon!

HOV was designed to lessen traffic by encouraging people to car-pool. It wasn't designed for entitled EV owners to drive solo, which is the only reason you would need a sticker.

As I understand it, the HOV lanes didn't lessen traffic as much as had been expected/hoped, at least in many areas, so they opened them up to EV cars to incentivize more environmentally-friendly driving.

I would argue it's ethically preferable to drive an EV, and providing an incentive for people to do so is likewise an ethical policy, as well as beneficial to society at large. At a personal level, I don't drive nearly as much as most people (I drove about 3k-4k miles last year altogether), so I don't have any ethical qualms about taking advantage of the incentive. (I also charge my car with the solar panels on my house, so it seems to me I'm due an even greater reward for my environmentally-friendly consumption.)

BTW, around here the stickers also reward driving with more passengers in the Express Lanes, which you can use for free or at less cost if you're not solo. I.e. it costs less if you have the stickers in addition to passengers, as I understand it.

 

[mikeandrie]

I think it took about 6 or 7 weeks. My dealer ordered the stickers for me at the time of purchase, so that helped speed up the process.

Interesting -- I assume that was back in May 2022? A user on Reddit who ordered them in March 2023 said it took 2-3 weeks for him.

I neglected to have the dealer order them, unfortunately, thinking I had to wait until I got the plates since the application asked for them.

 

[Socalsp3]

6 weeks

 

[DevSecOps]

As I understand it, the HOV lanes didn't lessen traffic as much as had been expected/hoped, at least in many areas, so they opened them up to EV cars to incentivize more environmentally-friendly driving.

I would argue it's ethically preferable to drive an EV, and providing an incentive for people to do so is likewise an ethical policy, as well as beneficial to society at large. At a personal level, I don't drive nearly as much as most people (I drove about 3k-4k miles last year altogether), so I don't have any ethical qualms about taking advantage of the incentive. (I also charge my car with the solar panels on my house, so it seems to me I'm due an even greater reward for my environmentally-friendly consumption.)

BTW, around here the stickers also reward driving with more passengers in the Express Lanes, which you can use for free or at less cost if you're not solo. I.e. it costs less if you have the stickers in addition to passengers, as I understand it.

Regardless of what the end result of HOV was if CA eventually gets a 50% EV adoption rate why even have an HOV lane at that point? You can't fit 50% of cars on the road into a single lane. It defeats the purpose.

I don't think there's anything ethical about giving special treatment or money to people who buy EVs, and I've owned 3. I am very vocal that I think EVs should sell themselves and if they can't then mfgs need to do better.

In the express lanes, if you have a flex pass you can set it to level 3 with an EV and it's free. You don't need an additional person. Again, I think this is wrong because EVs already don't pay to use the roads. We don't pay a gas tax, which is the primary financial source for road repairs. Not paying the tolls is another way that we don't pay for what we use. I just have moral issues with that.

I find it really funny that the majority of people who own EVs have political views that are based in equality, but they don't quite feel the same when they get special treatment and leave others out who can't afford or don't want an EV. It's do as I say, not as I do.

Rant over - Enjoy your HOV lane.

 

[spicy_taco]

Got car in the beginning of February. Dealer applied. Got HOV stickers mid March.

 

[mikeandrie]

In the express lanes, if you have a flex pass you can set it to level 3 with an EV and it's free. You don't need an additional person.

Well, that's illegal, isn't it? I would agree that's unethical, but I don't intend to do that.

 

[DevSecOps]

Well, that's illegal, isn't it? I would agree that's unethical, but I don't intend to do that.

No it's not illegal. The flex transponder has 3 settings

1 - Solo driver
2 - Driver +1
3 - Driver +2 OR a BEV with any amount of occupants

So with an EV you don't have to pay for the express lanes AND you don't need an additional person. At least that's how it is in NorCal (i.e. through Livermore/San Jose)

 

[mikeandrie]

Regardless of what the end result of HOV was if CA eventually gets a 50% EV adoption rate why even have an HOV lane at that point? You can't fit 50% of cars on the road into a single lane. It defeats the purpose.

Well the current version of the stickers expires in 2025, which will come well before there's 50% EV adoption. And yeah, when 50% of cars are EV, it would defeat the purpose I suppose, but that's a long ways off and the policy can (and probably will) be modified accordingly.

I find it really funny that the majority of people who own EVs have political views that are based in equality, but they don't quite feel the same when they get special treatment and leave others out who can't afford or don't want an EV. It's do as I say, not as I do.

Rant over - Enjoy your HOV lane.

I think it's possible to have ideas about equality that don't mean everyone gets treated literally exactly the same way in every detail. The world is too complicated for an absolute one-size-fits-all policy an almost every level. For example, I don't believe everyone should get paid exactly the same regardless of what kind of job they do, but that doesn't mean I don't believe in equality; the question is equality with regard to what, exactly.

As far as not being able to afford an EV, the problem there is income inequality, not the inequality of policies designed to incentive EV driving. In other words, if you take different levels of income out of the analysis, a policy favoring EV drivers makes perfect sense. E.g., compare two people making $200k a year, where one of them drives an EV and the other drives a Suburban getting 15 mpg or whatever. The latter is doing a lot more damage to the environment and imposing external costs on the rest of society, so it makes total sense to treat these two people differently.

Is it a problem that poorer people can't afford EVs and solar panels? Yes, absolutely -- but the problem is with their income inequality, not with the EVs and solar panels. There are ways to address income inequality exclusive of policies designed to incentivize more environmentally-friendly consumption.

 

[mikeandrie]

No it's not illegal. The flex transponder has 3 settings

1 - Solo driver
2 - Driver +1
3 - Driver +2 OR a BEV with any amount of occupants

So with an EV you don't have to pay for the express lanes AND you don't need an additional person. At least that's how it is in NorCal (i.e. through Livermore/San Jose)

Where do you see that? That's not my reading of this page:

https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/support/express-lanes-faq10.shtml

Solo drivers in eligible CAVs do not qualify as a carpool and must pay a toll. If using a FasTrak CAV toll tag, set the switch on the face of the tag to position 1 to receive a 50% discount off the toll. The FasTrak CAV toll tag is the only tag that will communicate the discounted toll to roadside equipment, If you have a FasTrak Flex toll tag, set the switch to position 1. You will be charged the full toll.


CAVs with two occupants can travel at a 50% discount and toll free with 3+ occupants when using a FasTrak CAV or FasTrak Flex toll tag. Set the switch to match the number of people in the vehicle.

 

[DevSecOps]

Where do you see that? That's not my reading of this page:

https://www.bayareafastrak.org/en/support/express-lanes-faq10.shtml

I've never seen a CAV tag, so that must be new. Mine are all flex tags.




As for the equality, yes it's complex, but driving in a "preferential" lane on a freeway is very basic and not at all complex. I just don't believe that we should get any benefits for owning a vehicle many people can't afford and not have to pay for the very roads we drive on, while making the poorest people pay for them.

The original purpose of HOV lanes actually benefited the poorer communities that were forced to carpool vs the wealthy that had no need to carpool.

 

[mikeandrie]

That picture is 2 years old; I think the policy must have changed. Doesn't sound like you're trying to take advantage of this policy, but I wouldn't advise anyone else to do that, they're liable to get a ticket.

EDIT: Yes, here's the new policy:

BTW, there's an income-based CAV program, FWIW.

 

[devmach-e]

Interesting -- I assume that was back in May 2022? A user on Reddit who ordered them in March 2023 said it took 2-3 weeks for him.

I neglected to have the dealer order them, unfortunately, thinking I had to wait until I got the plates since the application asked for them.

Yeah, I picked the car up on May 5th. Dealers are allowed to order stickers for cars in their inventory before they are sold. The car was on the dealer’s lot for all of about 3 days.

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