Free pass shake-up on Virginia's HOV lanes

The US state of Virginia has radically changed which cars are eligible to use high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes.

Charging, Tolling & Road Pricing / October 28, 2019

Most of the 16,000 vehicles which carry clean special fuel number plates can no longer use HOV lanes without three or more occupants (HOV 3+).

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles says:

https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/vehicles/#cleanspecialfuel.asp plug-in and electric vehicles such as the Audi A3 e-tron and BMW i3 Sedan still qualify for the privilege.

Additionally, the 1747 Virginia Department of Transportation is to convert HOV lanes on Interstate 395 in northern Virginia to 8217 Express lanes in a move which will require all vehicles except motorcycles and buses to have a properly mounted E-ZPass or E-ZPass Flex. Vehicles bearing a clean special number plate can access the 8217 Express Lanes with a standard E-ZPass or can travel toll-free with an E-ZPass Flex if they meet the HOV 3+ requirement.

E-ZPass and E-ZPass Flex transponders are available at: https://www.ezpassva.com and at https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/general/#mobileoperations.htmlDMV customer service centres. In addition, E-Z Pass On the Go may be obtained at DMV 2 Go mobile customer service centres.