By Lookout Staff

September 24, 2025 -- Drivers of Clean Air Vehicles (CAV) have one week left to park for free at Santa Monica meters, as the city becomes the last in California to phase out the program.

Beginning next Wednesday, drivers displaying the CAV decal will be required to pay posted rates when parking at any of the 5,800 metered spaces within the city, officials said.

Launched in 2002, the program covers more than 6,500 vehicles displaying CAV decals, which include fully electric and hydrogen vehicles.

The City’s CAV decal program, "served as an enhanced incentive for the use of low and no emission vehicles," City officials said in a statement Tuesday.

"As the number of clean air vehicles on the road continues to grow across the region, the need for the incentive has declined," officials said.

The number of CAVs in Santa Monica surged from 1,003 in 2015 to 6,495 in 2023, accounting for 10 percent of all registered vehicles in the city and "likely an even higher percentage today," officials said.

They note that similar parking programs in San Jose, Sacramento and Hermosa Beach "have long since phased out their CAV parking benefits."

The end of the program will give a much-needed boost to the cash-strapped City, which has seen parking revenues decline.

The City's budget could likely reap more than $3 million in parking revenues per year after the program ends, according to staff reports to the City Council.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles’ CAV program, which has allowed solo drivers in vehicles displaying CAV decals to drive in carpool lanes, is also set to expire September 30.