Filed under: Hybrid, Transportation Alternatives, Legislation and Policy, USA
Boston taxi fleet to be hybrid by 2015
Following the examples set down by New York and San Francisco, Boston is now requiring that all its taxis be hybrids by the year 2015. The fleet currently boasts about 50 of the gas saving cars but most of the rest of the fleet of 1825 people movers are Crown Victorias. Although the hybrids can save owners $1,000 a month in fuel costs and halve emissions, change is not always welcomed and there is some resistance to switching over. The upfront cost of hybrids approach $30,000 when outfitted with the complete taxi kit while the old rear-wheel drive guzzlers might be less than half of that when picked up second hand from city auctions. Of course, we might argue that brand new Ford Escape hybrids and Priuses would be twice as nice to drive and ride in as previously ragged-out police cars but perhaps we're biased. In any case, the decision has been made and so hybrids it will be...eventually. The seven year grace period is supposed to help out the owner-operators compete with large cab company fleets while the transition is made.
[Source: The Boston Globe]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ale 7:27PM (8/31/2008)
he upfront cost of hybrids approach $30,000 when outfitted with the complete taxi kit while the old rear-wheel drive guzzlers might be less than half of that when picked up second hand from city auctions.
ouch, that takes a commitment... but at least they're able to spend that money i guess..
but 100,000s of dollars for an image? couldn't they use to that make better roads and ultimately save everybody more gas.
then again, this is btown and their big digs havent worked out much lately...
Reply
mattW 7:38PM (8/31/2008)
I disagree that the taxis have to be hybrids, why not just legislate a minimum fuel economy standard for taxis in the city? I don't see why the government needs to back a particular technology instead of pragmatically supporting what gets the best result for the environment i.e. FE or Co2 levels. I really like hybrids and they generally get great city fuel economy but being a hybrid doesn't always mean good FE numbers, the Lexus Hybrids have generally been about better performance for example. Heck they even have Formula 1 Hybrids in the works.
Reply
Andy 10:17PM (8/31/2008)
Ditto mattW
This is government micromanagement. This just promotes corporate lobbying towards legislated monopolies.
Laws should be about the results, not about the singular solutions. Millions of people will figure out thier own solutions best tailored to their application.
This is the same reason the Feds should get out of subsidizing specific technology types and instead start up cap+trade on carbon.
stevefazek 9:49PM (8/31/2008)
Boston Taxis freaking SUCK. They are all old POSs i have seen taxis with holes still in them from the police equipment.
The price of a hybrid taxi is the same as a new crown vic.
At least in NYC they force new cars upon the owners.
Reply
radler63 2:13AM (9/01/2008)
We also have an initiative here in old Europe to introduce HEV's as taxis...
In some areas like Styria the purchase is supported, see
http://www.sugre.info/download.phtml?id=539&sprache=en
choose image galery and then HEVs and enjoy the photos,
Reply
GenWaylaid 3:13AM (9/01/2008)
Great. Give a hybrid to a Boston taxi driver, who will gun it down every back alley like an ignorant maniac, and it will return maybe 25 mpg.
Reply
tekdemon 8:37AM (9/01/2008)
The only reason why there are still the old cars around is because a lot of the drivers rent the cars from taxi companies, and the companies don't really have much of an incentive to upgrade since they don't pay the fuel costs-the drivers do.
I think most intelligent drivers that own their own cars would have realized that their fuel costs are killing their profit margins by now and taken out a loan for a hybrid already since the savings in fuel would more than cover the loan payments.
Reply
JamesWB 9:10AM (9/01/2008)
What hybrids are there that have as much room as a crown vic?
How many of these are cheaper to run/cleaner than a crown vic on natural gas?
Reply
russellg 6:12AM (9/02/2008)
cng is good so is lpg which powers all the taxis in my city and they are fords mostly crown vic size cng also powers 95% of the citys buses
Deej 2:39PM (9/02/2008)
I had a conversation with a taxi driver (not the owner) about this on my recent trip to Vancouver where the taxi fleet is predominantly Prius or Corolla with a few minivans here and there. I’m from Toronto where the taxi’s are still mostly full size cars. The Prius was praised for its fuel use, but the high cost of ownership eats up the savings. He wasn’t the owner, but his take was the Corolla was the better all-round taxi due to lower up front costs, decent real-world mileage, usable size and no battery to replace – taxi’s eat up the battery warranty pretty quickly. Size was not an issue since the majority of rides are single passengers. He said the only complaint he’s heard from customers is from American’s who are afraid to be in the small car on the highways.
Reply
SnickerBobs 4:31PM (10/25/2008)
For the amount of time/distance the taxis are on the road, it's obvious the ROI on Hybrid cars is attractive...and real. I can't disagree with this, except maybe that this may only be a temporary solution.
On a related note, Boston's taxi price is highest in the country according to TaxiFareFinder.com. Go figure.
http://www.taxifarefinder.com/rates.php?city=
Reply