High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane

State and local agencies are strapped for cash, and one source of income may be the high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on congested freeways. In Southern California, local officials plan to convert "carpool lanes" to toll lanes with variable pricing, allowing drivers to pay up to $10 for the privilege of zipping along a less-congested left lane while nonpaying drivers sit stuck in traffic just a few feet away. But the plans have riled electric-car drivers, who presently can travel in the HOV lanes with just a single occupant as part of a longstanding California program to cut air pollution by...