Metro Hybrid Vehicles

Metro Taxi to “Go Green” With Hybrid Taxis

In Northeast Denver, Metro Taxi has been quietly but actively working to “green up” the taxi industry. These efforts have made a positive difference and Metro Taxi could well be the Greenest Taxi Company in the Nation! Our goal is to reduce the impact of the carbon footprint we produce both on the road and at our company headquarters.

On the road, at the beginning of the summer we purchased five Toyota Prius Hybrids, which have become the taxi that passengers specifically request. The hybrids tangibly reduce the negative impacts of our carbon footprint and have a positive impact on the environmental conditions in Denver. On the average, a Metro Taxi drives 70,000 miles per year. Given the mileage driven, 1 Metro Taxi converted to a hybrid vehicle is the equivalent of converting 5 non-commercial vehicles to hybrid automobiles. In the past Metro Taxi purchased autos that are safe and powerful, but get a meager 12 – 14 miles per gallon. With the switch to Toyota Hybrid Taxis we are able to increase our efficiency to an incredible 50 – 55 miles per gallon.

Seeing the results of our efforts inspired us to add another five Toyota hybrids to our fleet in July ‘07. We will continue until our entire fleet has been entirely replaced with hybrid vehicles. When the entire fleet is replaced with hybrids that will be the equivalent of 2,500 private hybrid vehicles on the road. By our estimates we will be able to save 2.6 million gallons of gas annually once our fleet is completely converted. Metro Taxi anticipates this transition to take about three years.

Metro Taxi has also focused on eco-friendly efforts within our maintenance facility and corporate offices here in Denver. We have a waste oil furnace in our maintenance facility that produces heat from spent oil produced after oil changes to our taxis. This keeps us from sending used oil to a disposal center and allows us to heat our buildings during the Winter without using traditional energy sources.

Metro Taxi has replaced all of the windows at our headquarters with energy efficient Low E double-glassed panes. These windows will decrease carbon emissions by reducing the energy needs of the entire building throughout the year. We have signed up for Excel’s Windsource ® program in order to support clean, renewable wind energy generated from Colorado wind farms.

Metro Taxi has instituted a company-wide recycling program and is focused on using post-consumer office products whenever possible. We are now exploring the best and most efficient ways to utilize solar power and hope to one day power our facilities and plug our hybrid taxis into solar power, thus creating 100 percent clean power.

Metro Taxi’s stand on the environment is serious and our results are tangible. We are proud to be part of the solution.

HYBRID METRO TAXIS FACT SHEET

• On average, a Metro Taxi travels about 70,000 miles per year, getting an average of 11 miles per gallon (with Metro Taxi’s current Ford Crown Victoria model).

• Metro Taxi has just acquired five new Toyota Prius Hybrids that get between 50 and 60 miles per gallon.

• Over a year of driving 70,000 miles per car, Metro Taxi estimates a savings of 5,090 gallons of gasoline per vehicle for a total of 25,450 gallons of fuel saved per year with only five cars to start. If Metro Taxi replaced its entire fleet with hybrid vehicles, there would be 2.5 million gallons of gas saved per year.

• With current gas prices of approximately $3.29 per gallon, Metro Taxi will save $16,750 in gasoline costs per cab and a total of $83,750 from just five vehicles in one year. With the entire fleet replaced, there would be a savings of $8.4 million in fuel expenses per year at current gas prices.

• Given the mileage driven, one Metro Taxi converted to a hybrid vehicle is the equivalent of converting five non-commercial vehicles to hybrid automobiles. If the entire fleet was replaced with hybrids, that would be the equivalent of 2,500 private hybrid vehicles on the road.

To see photos of Press Conference Announcing Hybrid Taxis click here.