HOV Lanes for Heroes

Summary#

This bill would change section 166(b) of title 23, United States Code. It lets a public authority allow certain disabled veterans to use high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, including toll lanes. A veteran must have a license plate, a registered transponder, or another identification method the public authority requires. The bill defines a "disabled veteran" by reference to title 38 and to a service-connected disability rating set by the public authority. The bill allows one qualifying veteran to use an HOV lane even if the usual occupancy rule would not be met. A public authority may also choose to charge no toll for that veteran. The bill makes small numbering changes to the existing statutory section to add this new paragraph.

What it means for you#

• If you are a veteran with a VA-determined service-connected disability at or above a percentage that a local public authority sets, a public authority may allow you to use HOV and toll lanes when you show the required ID.
• The decision is permissive: the bill lets public authorities offer this benefit, but it does not require them to do so.
• If you are not a qualifying disabled veteran, this bill does not change existing HOV or toll rules for you.
• The bill does not give details on how quickly or exactly public authorities must implement identification systems or the qualifying percentage.

Expenses#

No publicly available information.

Proponents' View#

Sponsors listed in the bill metadata include Nicole Malliotakis, James Baird, Pete Stauber, Eugene Vindman, and Josh Gottheimer. The bill text itself does not include sponsors' stated reasons or other supporting statements.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.