Tired of choking on hybrid fumes

Pointless? Me? A sponge? Of course I'm pointless, you moron, I'm a rectangle! But I'm irreverent, not irrelevant.

Ahem. So "HOV causes congestion"?

Carpooling ALLEVIATES congestion. Slugging is a form of carpooling.

Solo driving ADDS to congestion: on the carpool lanes as well as at your destination.

So let's see how your argument works: Hmmm... DC traffic is worse now than it was two years ago... what's different... Hmmm... could it be, er, hybrids?

By your "logic", NoSUV, hybrids could be the cause of worsening congestion, since they happen to be driven on the region's roads.

(Don't get all confused and think I believe that. I'm just demonstrating the inherent fallacy of your cum hoc ergo propter hoc argument.)

Perhaps congestion on our roadways could be because this is a growth region of the country as well as adding certain vehicle types to the HOV lanes.

Of course these facts will be refuted by the sponges et al of the world but oh well.

National average population growth 200-2005 is 5.3% The regional growth here is 6.9%. I wonder how many of the folks that moved here have cars. I will go out on a limb and say most of them do so it is no wonder that congestion is getting worse.

I will also suggest that hybrid drivers might have at one time been slugs but found that system less appealing than driving on their own. Now that may add to the congestion, but I still see little evidence suggesting that there is a need to limit hybrids from the HOV lanes so far. Perhaps if hybrids continue to gain in popularity it will become necassary to change the rules, but not yet. However, hybrid sales have gone flat or decreased over the last few months.

Now that fuel prices have gone down, I would think hybrid sales witll continue to plummit.

Pennyprius<=============not a troll.

Thank you Raymond.

Without boring the group with the details, yes I did go hybrid for the cost savings in fuel first, HOV exemption second. Now that I know it tweaks some of the arrogant posters on here, I have a third reason to love my HOV exempt-2005 Toyota Prius with option package 6-(all the bells and whistles)

<============Not a troll

PP, for what it is worth... why don't you go back to the Sponge's very first ever post on this board -- October 6, 2004...

(Twilight Zone sound effect...) "The question to ask is whatever happened to the huge lot we were promised at I95 and Rte. 234? I went to a public discussion on it in mid-2001, and VDOT's rep said they would do it, even that they HAD to do it. Now look, they are building a conference center there (like that'll ever work!)

The pressure on Horner comes from four things:
1. PWC population has grown from 280,813 in 2000 to estimated (by PWC) 341,077 people. That is 61,000 in less than four years.
2. New home construction has been concentrated along the I-66 and I-95 corridors, but the I-95 corridor is zoned for greater density.
3. Stafford and Fredericksburg are growing almost as fast as PWC, and if you travel north driving solo, the first regular back-up you come to is around Horner Road.
4. The BIG PROBLEM is that NOT ONE SINGLE COMMUTER PARKING SPACE has been constructed on the eastern end of the county since the expansion of the 234 lot back in 2000/2001. NOT ONE! Yet we add tens of thousands of people.

It's only going to get worse."
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OK. Got anything NEW to add, PP?

We're all so glad you're here to tell us that the problem is growth. Whodathunkit?

Don't go crying to mommy about the bullies, please. [B)]

Actually, I remain firm in my belief that all new vehicles should be either hybrids or alternate fuel. At the same time, our regular lanes are clogged, and slugging has been around for a few decades. We need to follow the path from where we are to where we need to be, and the answer is that either the legislature needs to limit what can be sold in the region (has to be national or else people will just go to a different state to make their purchase) or find an incentive to guide consumer decisions. I, for one, prefer for those incentives to NOT be taxpayer based.

Toll roads are a possible solution with hybrid/CSF exemption and the revenue generated going to subsidize public transportation (take an express bus to/from current slug line for $1/trip).

Nearly every week there's another article about the affects of global warming, and every other week an article about dwindling fuel supplies. And still, how many of you have purchased a vehicle within the last 5 years that isn't a hybrid/CSF? Would your purchasing decision been different if you couldn't get into the express lanes unless you were in one?