Electric cars and vehicles powered by compressed natural gas will be allowed to drive in High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes even if only one person is in the automobile, under a bill narrowly passed by the House of Representatives Monday. HOV lanes usually require at least two individuals be in an automobile to use the express lanes.
State Rep. Eddie Rodríguez, D-Austin, sponsored the legislation which, he described, as an attempt to incentives the use of green energy-powered automobiles.
State Rep. Ken Legler, R-Pasadena, and State Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, spoke against the bill.
“This is really a vendor bill,” said Harper-Brown, indicating she believes the bill was a sweetheart deal for the green energy industry.
Legler said the bill would clog HOV lanes in the Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan areas.
The bill passed 78 to 67.
