Fleet Experiences
Alamo Clean Cities Develops Hybrid Taxicab Replacement Program
In spring 2007, Alamo Clean Cities Coordinator Andrew Hudgins and representatives from the City of San Antonio sat down with members of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the taxicab industry to discuss the environmental and cost benefits of switching from petroleum-powered vehicles to hybrids.
According to Hudgins, their approach was to tout the "fuel savings, lower emissions, and 'green public image' that would come as a result of switching to hybrid taxis." The meeting eventually led to the passage of a city ordinance establishing the Hybrid Taxicab Replacement Program, a voluntary initiative that offers cab companies additional vehicle permits as an incentive to replace their current combustion-engine vehicles with hybrid taxis. The goal of the program is to swap all of the area's conventional taxis with hybrids.
As of March 2008, 65 hybrid cabs, operated by 16 of the 25 local cab companies, were cruising the streets of San Antonio as part of the program. Petroleum reductions have not yet been measured.
Alamo Clean Cities continues to provide technical assistance to the taxicab program and more recently helped the city become part of the TCEQ's Green and Go Partnership. The program works to increase public awareness of hybrid vehicles and help eliminate roadblocks to getting hybrids incorporated into taxi fleets.
