American-made hybrid cars will be allowed to use Arizona’s carpool lanes under a proposal approved today by a legislative panel. The bill expands the types of hybrid vehicles currently allowed in the state’s high-occupancy vehicle lanes.  “It is time that we encourage energy independence, while rewarding citizens who do not want to put an American out of a job,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jack Harper of Surprise, said in a statement. The Senate Transportation Committee gave the bill preliminary approval. S1041 allows hybrid vehicles with at least a 45-percent fuel efficiency to use the HOV lanes with a single occupant. Under state and federal laws, HOV lanes are restricted to cars with at least two occupants during specific hours.
 
Harper’s bill removes the requirement that the Arizona Department of Transportation receive approval from the federal government to allow hybrid vehicles the use of HOV lanes. In 2006, Gov. Janet Napolitano allowed hybrid cars with single occupants but banned bi-fuel vehicles from the HOV lanes through an executive order, a move that upset Republicans who saw it as an overstepping of the governor’s authority. Under the governor’s program, only a limited number of foreign-made vehicles are allowed in the carpool lane. Hybrid vehicles alternately run on either gasoline or electricity. Harper said American manufacturers, particularly General Motors, have “leaped ahead of Toyota and Honda in hybrid technology” in the past year. “I think we all we understand that we need to reward American ingenuity,” he said in committee. Sen. Pamela Gorman of Anthem said she prefers to see legislation that allows anybody to use carpool lanes for a fee, and not just those who can afford the more expensive hybrid cars. “My big concern is congestion, and not fuel economy of people’s cars,” Gorman said as she voted “no.”