Sponsors (4)
The bill gives disabled veterans meaningful travel-time and cost relief through HOV/toll exemptions while imposing modest administrative costs and potential congestion and revenue impacts for other road users and local governments.
Disabled veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities can drive alone in HOV lanes and may be exempted from HOV tolls, reducing their travel time and out-of-pocket transportation costs.
State and local transportation authorities are given a clear statutory option and a uniform identification mechanism (special plates, transponders, or other ID) to identify eligible veterans, simplifying implementation and enforcement of exemptions.
Commuters and transit users may see reduced HOV lane capacity and carpool priority, potentially increasing congestion and travel times for non-eligible drivers.
State and local public authorities and taxpayers must establish and operate identification, enrollment, and enforcement systems for the exemptions, creating administrative burdens and costs.
Taxpayers and local governments could lose some toll revenue if eligible veterans widely use toll waivers, modestly reducing funds available for HOV corridor maintenance or related projects.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Allows qualified disabled veterans to use HOV lanes as single occupants with approved veteran ID and permits authorities to waive tolls and set the disability threshold.
Allows qualifying disabled veterans to use HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lanes as single occupants if their vehicle displays an approved form of veteran identification. Public authorities decide the minimum service-connected disability rating that qualifies and may waive tolls for these users. Also updates internal cross-references in the highway code to reflect the new authority for public officials to grant this occupancy exception and toll relief.
Introduced January 7, 2025 by Nicole Malliotakis · Last progress January 7, 2025