Carpools can qualify for discounted tolls on Bay Area bridges and free travel in Express Lanes. Carpools, vanpools, motorcycles, and eligible clean air vehicles travel free-of-charge in express lanes. A FasTrak toll tag is not required. If you have a FasTrak toll tag and qualify for toll-free travel, place your tag in the provided Mylar bag to avoid being charged for your trip. Early next year, the new I-580 Express Lanes open in the Tri-Valley area – Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore. Carpools, vanpools, motorcycles and eligible clean air vehicles must have a FasTrak Flex toll tag switched in the proper position to receive toll-free travel in the I-580 Express Lanes. FasTrak Flex is also accepted on the SR-237 and I-680 Express Lanes, but is not required for toll-free travel at these locations. To find Bay Area Express Lane locations, visit Where to Use It. Learn more at Express Lanes FAQs. Bay Area Toll Bridges Carpools, vanpools, motorcycles and eligible clean air vehicles can receive discounted tolls on Bay Area Bridges.

Qualified vehicles must use the designated carpool lane with a valid FasTrak toll tag to receive the discounted toll rate. Carpool hours are posted on roadside signage at each location. As of July 1, 2016 FasTrak Required5 – 9 am FasTrak Required4 – 6 pm 5 – 10 am 3 – 7 pm A great way to reduce time spent driving, reduce carbon emissions, and save money is to share your trip with other people, eliminating extra car trips. You'll also save time and money. Use the 511 RideMatch service to find others with similar commutes and then arrange a carpool or vanpool. It’s fun, rewarding, and good for the planet.Carpoolers and vanpoolers can earn special rewards and incentives such as gift cards from local retailers, grocers and gas cards! Register with the 511 RideMatch service to qualify and receive updates on future promotions. Qualifying vanpools with 11 to 15 passengers and registered with 511 Rideshare can cross the bridges toll-free. Getting started is easy.

For more information and how to qualify, click here or call 511, say "Rideshare" and ask to speak with a vanpool consultant.High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) and High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lane Exemption Compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen, electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) meeting specified California and federal emissions standards and affixed with a California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Clean Air Vehicle sticker may use HOV lanes regardless of the number of occupants in the vehicle. White Clean Air Vehicle Stickers are available to an unlimited number of qualifying CNG, hydrogen, and electric vehicles. Green Clean Air Vehicle Stickers are available for the first 85,000 applicants that purchase or lease a qualified PHEV. Both stickers will expire January 1, 2019. These vehicles are also eligible for reduced rates or exemptions from toll charges imposed on HOT lanes. As of December 18, 2015, the Green Clean Air Vehicle Stickers limit was reached. The DMV continues to accept applications without payment should additional stickers be authorized.

For more information, including a list of qualifying vehicles, see the California Air Resources Board Carpool Lane Use Stickers website. (Reference California Vehicle Code 5205.5 and 21655.9)If you are thinking of buying a plug-in hybrid car and getting those coveted green carpool stickers to cruise solo in carpool lanes, forget about it.air purifier with essential oil The state is no longer issuing green stickers, having reached the 85,000 cap approved by the California Legislature. is uv air purifier safeThe Department of Motor Vehicles will continue to accept applications for a waiting list in case the cap is once again raised.water air freshener purifier However, there is no limit on white carpool stickers for electric cars or those running on compressed natural gas.

The DMV had issued 92,480 white decals as of Monday. While there is no pending legislation to increase the number of green stickers, the most recent increase in the decal ceiling was included in last year’s state budget legislation. “It is quite conceivable that this approach may be used again,” Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesman John Goodwin said. But if the cap holds, “this is not happy news,” said Francis Chung, of San Jose, who has been considering a plug-in car to get stickers and ease his commute on Highway 85. “My drive to work now takes me 30 minutes longer each way.” Average speeds on nearly half of the Bay Area’s 400 miles of carpool lanes are under 45 mph, failing to meet federal performance standards. As a result, solo FasTrak users are banned from the Highway 237-Interstate 880 express lanes for up to an hour each morning. Transportation officials say the same restrictions are likely on future express lanes on other Bay Area freeways, such as I-580 in the Livermore Valley, when those open next year.

Nowhere in the Bay Area is the sticker program more popular than in Santa Clara County: Through February, 8,045 of the 19,757 decals on the road in the nine-county region were issued there. Alameda County was next at 3,821, followed by Contra Costa at 2,415 and San Mateo at 1,971. But there’s a downside. The MTC opposed the most recent hike to 85,000 stickers, saying that increases in the allotment hurt efforts to encourage carpooling and get more cars off the road. And regional officials fear that another increase in the cap would hurt efforts to get motorists to pay to drive in express lanes. “With congestion levels reaching new levels, especially in the prosperous South Bay … where the purchase of more (electric) vehicles is likely, we should not be giving single-occupant vehicles free access to the region’s HOV lanes,” MTC executive chief Steve Heminger wrote in a memo. “If left unchecked this program has the potential to undermine the viability of the region’s express lane network, a core element of the Bay Area’s strategy for improving highway mobility.”