Drivers displaying Clean Air Vehicle decals will no longer receive free parking at Santa Monica meters starting Oct. 1, ending a 23-year-old incentive program designed to encourage the adoption of low-emission vehicles.
The city's CAV decal program, which allowed vehicles with California Department of Motor Vehicles Clean Air Vehicle decals to park without charge at city-operated meters for posted time limits, expires Sept. 30 under Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 3.16.120.
Beginning Tuesday, all drivers must pay posted rates when parking at metered spaces within the city, regardless of their vehicle's emission status.
"Originally developed in 2002, the city's CAV decal program served as an enhanced incentive for the use of low and no emission vehicles," city officials said in announcing the program's end. "As the number of clean air vehicles on the road continues to grow across the region, the need for the incentive has declined."
The city's decision aligns with the expiration of the federal Clean Air Vehicle decal program, which also ends Sept. 30. Similar parking programs in San Jose, Sacramento and Hermosa Beach have already been phased out, leaving Santa Monica as one of the last cities to offer the benefit.
Santa Monica's commitment to electric vehicle adoption has shown dramatic results since the program began. The number of registered zero-emission vehicles in the city increased from 1,003 in 2015 to 6,495 in 2023, rising from 1.4% of all registered vehicles to 10%.
The municipal code allowed multiple categories of vehicles to park for free, including those displaying current and valid CAV decals, Neighborhood Electric Vehicle decals issued prior to 2011, and various colored CAV decals issued in different years. All of these exemptions expire Sept. 30, except for vehicles with special recognition plates.
City Council had extended the program in February 2019 to include drivers with expired White and Green CAV decals, responding to early electric vehicle adopters who lost HOV lane access when their decals expired. The extension was set to run through Sept. 30, 2025, coinciding with the federal program's end.
A recent ordinance clarified that all CAV decal holders would lose their free parking privileges, including those with Purple CAV decals that were unintentionally omitted from earlier expiration language.
Despite ending the parking incentive, city officials said Santa Monica remains committed to transportation electrification and continues expanding charging infrastructure throughout the city.
The federal CAV decal program's termination will have broader impacts beyond parking. Starting Oct. 1, vehicles displaying CAV decals will no longer be allowed to travel in High Occupancy Vehicle lanes with a single occupant or receive reduced toll rates in some areas.
California DMV Director Steve Gordon expressed disappointment with the federal decision, noting the state has issued more than one million decals since the program's approval.
"This is a great program for climate-conscious Californians," Gordon said. "Californians are committed to lowering their carbon footprint and these decals helped drivers be good stewards of our highways and environment. By taking away this program, hundreds of thousands of California's drivers will pay the price."
The federal program, which first authorized HOV lane access for single-occupant clean vehicles in California in 1999, received its most recent reauthorization in 2017. The California DMV began issuing decals under the current program on Jan. 1, 2019, and stopped accepting new applications Aug. 29.
CAV decals were typically valid for up to four years, but the federal government's decision makes all decals invalid as of Oct. 1, regardless of when they were issued.
To inform drivers of the change, Caltrans will post messages on electronic road signs reading "CLEAN AIR DECALS NOT VALID STARTING OCT 1."
The DMV is notifying customers with email addresses on file and posting information at offices and on social media about the program's expiration.
All vehicles must now meet posted occupancy requirements to travel in carpool lanes, and drivers who violate the law may receive citations.