The Department of Motor Vehicles reports the program is wildly popular, and officials are approving about 200 HOV access stickers a day. Once the state issues 50,000 decals - at the current rate, that could come in March - Caltrans will study whether the car-pool lanes have become too congested to allow access to any more solo drivers in hybrids.
If Caltrans' 90-day study determines that the car-pool lanes have become too crowded, it could shut down the program to new users as early as summer.