YELLOW LIGHT FOR HYBRIDS.

Byline: Lisa Mascaro Staff Writer

If you've been thinking about buying a hybrid car so you can drive solo in California's car-pool lanes, this might be just the time to seal the deal.

The Department of Motor Vehicles reports the program is wildly popular, and officials are approving about 200 HOV access stickers a day. Once the state issues 50,000 decals - at the current rate, that could come in March - Caltrans will study whether the car-pool lanes have become too congested to allow access to any more solo drivers in hybrids.

If Caltrans' 90-day study determines that the car-pool lanes have become too crowded, it could shut down the program to new users as early as summer.

Hybrid owners who already have the bright yellow stickers are thrilled they got in on the perk before it slips away.

``It's probably shaved 15 to 20 minutes off of my commute, easily,'' said Doug Dearing, who drives 40 miles from Castaic to his job in Van Nuys. ``I had been pretty excited about the prospect of getting that sticker right up front.''

Since the program took effect last summer, the DMV has seen a brisk demand for the $8 decals needed to drive alone in the high-occupancy-vehicle lanes, which usually require at least two occupants.

As of Wednesday, the DMV had issued 42,657 stickers to California drivers.

``We've been getting a steady supply of requests for the stickers. It definitely doesn't look like it's going down,'' DMV spokesman Mike Miller said.

The program was authorized by AB 2628, authored by Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, D-Woodland Hills, that drew bipartisan support when it was signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in September 2004. It needed federal approval, and took effect in August.

At the time, transportation experts cautioned that allowing solo drivers to travel in HOV lanes could increase traffic congestion - especially in Southern California, where car-pool lanes are already crowded.

The law includes built-in mechanisms to keep car-pool lanes from being overwhelmed: It mandates a review once 50,000 stickers are issued and caps the program at 75,000 vehicles. The program is set to expire in 2008.

Spokesman David Anderson said it's too early to say whether the state Department of Transportation has seen the kind of traffic jams that would put the brakes on the program.

In Southern California, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority expects to see some impact, but says that even with 11,000 stickers issued in Los Angeles County - the most in the state - it will be difficult to measure because of the massive size of the region.

``If they sold them all in a special section of the county - they were on the Westside and they all were heading downtown in the morning - that would be very measurable and that would be a dramatic impact. But that's not how it's going to be,'' said Kevin Michel, director of San Fernando Valley area planning for the MTA.

He added that in the future, as traffic worsens in L.A., the hybrid debate will be overshadowed by a discuss of whether to increase car pools from two to three people per vehicle.

Pavley says the law is doing what she set out to do - reward those who utilize environmentally friendly technology. The law gives the perk only to the cleanest cars - those getting 45 mpg or better and emitting the fewest polluting emissions.

Only the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic and Honda Insight qualify.

``It wasn't intended to just lift the lid on the use of the car-pool lanes,'' said Pavley's district director, Louise Rishoff. ``That bill is about clean air and clean vehicles, and to really get people to think about purchasing a hybrid and increasing their visibility. And I think that has certainly has happened.''

In the meantime, hybrid drivers are thrilled with the program.

``I think it was kind of a land rush to grab them,'' said Bob Pahilanga, a middle-school teacher who commutes on surface streets between Burbank and North Hollywood, but keeps the sticker in his glove compartment in case he needs to get on the freeway.

``The people who did get the stickers are sort of the lucky few,'' he said. ``I think that's why I got it. If I end up on a freeway that's really jammed I'll go out and slap them on the car.''

Lisa Mascaro, [phone]

lisa.mascaro(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Doug Dearing, one of the thousands of hybrid-car owners allowed to drive solo in the state's car-pool lanes, says the program has shaved 15 to 20 minutes off of his commute.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer