It seems as if the Virginian government is looking at rolling back an exemption aimed at allowing Hybrid car owners to make use of car-pooling lanes even when in a single occupancy vehicle.

Since 2000, hybrid vehicle owners have had unrestricted use of HOV 3 lanes. A rapid increase in hybrid car ownership has lead to reports that the car-pooling lanes are sometimes more congested than normal lanes.

The situation has reportedly become so terrible that traffic authorities are not recommending its renewal at the end of 2006.

Giving some explanatory context to the issue, one Virginian car yard owner said that up to 95% of people who purchased hybrid vehicles did so because of the HOV 3 exemption and the tax-break.

A couple of things immediately struck me after reading the news:

1) This kind of non-financial incentives can have a direct and measurable impact on hybrid vehicle uptake.

2) They will not always be sustainable - and maybe we need to be careful to see them in that way. Creating expectations of permanent entitlement could lead to disappointment, anger and frustration if changes like this happen in the future.