The US government is ending a program that allowed EVs and hybrids to display a "Clean Air Vehicle" sticker and use the HOV lane on freeways, even if the driver was alone in the car. A rough year for electric vehicle adoption just got a little rougher for owners in some parts of the US. Starting next month, EVs will no longer be able to ride in the fast lane in California, after the US federal government and Congress failed to reauthorize a popular program that has given hybrid and electric vehicles access to state carpool lanes--and worked to promote the sale of electrics for more than 25 years. Under the program, California drivers with qualifying electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles could purchase $27 stickers that gave them access to several highway carpool lanes, plus discounts on a number of toll roads and bridges--even if a driver was alone in their car. Over 1 million decals have been issued to California drivers since the program's start in 1999, and hundreds of thousands of vehicles have decals today.

Have you ever looked in your rear-view mirror and watched anxiously as a police car came up behind you? I'd dare say that most of us dread such a moment. It does not necessarily mean that you are a criminal or have done anything wrong. It's the notion that the police officer can potentially pull you over, referred to as a traffic stop, which gets us nervous and on-edge. Am I doing anything wrong in my driving, you right away begin to ponder. Is there anything about my car that might spark a traffic stop, you contemplate as your mind races trying to ascertain whether you are going to get pulled over or not. If the police car opts to go around you, it usually brings you a sense of momentary relief. Thank goodness, avoided getting stopped. For some drivers, once they realize that a police car is directly behind them, they will opt to switch lanes in hopes that the police car will merely go alongside and no longer sit behind their car. I know a few drivers that the minute they spot a police car even many cars behind them, they will right away try to maneuver into a lane that will keep them from perchance having the cops directly on their tail. Why do police perform these ad hoc traffic stops? In theory, the traffic stop is intended to ensure the safety of the roadways. If you are driving in a dangerous fashion, it seems sensible that having you pulled to the side of the road might prevent you from ramming into another car or running over a pedestrian. If your car is exhibiting some adverse condition and not fully safely drivable, suppose your exhaust pipe is hanging onto the ground and dragging along, this can create a traffic hazard for you and for other cars nearby. Probably handy to have a traffic stop to inform you about the matter and make sure that you are aware of it and take care of it.

Recently Madrona Ventures, in partnership with Craig Mundie (former Microsoft CTO) released a white paper proposing an autonomous vehicle corridor between Seattle and Vancouver on I-5 and BC Highway 99. While there are some useful ideas in it, the basic concept contains some misconceptions about both traffic management, infrastructure planning, and robocars. The proposal starts with a call for allowing robocars in the carpool lanes, and then moving to having a robocar only lane. Eventually it moves to more lanes being robocar only, and finally the whole highway. Generally I have (mostly) avoided too much talk of the all-robocar road because there are so many barriers to this that it remains very far in the future.

That's the thrust of a white paper proposal that imagines an "autonomous vehicle corridor" replacing the I-5 freeway between Seattle and Vancouver. VC firm Madrona Venture Group first proposed the idea last year, and has now refined it to explain how such a radical proposal could be phased in over time. The Golden State already allows electric cars access to coveted carpool lanes, to encourage low-emissions driving. Of course, a white paper from some VC firm won't convince any transportation agency to make such a major change.