Mayor Gavin Newsom celebrates San Francisco's commitment to clean alternative fuels for taxis.
Mayor Gavin Newsom, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and the Department of the Environment joined the San Francisco taxi industry to announce that 57 percent of the City’s taxi fleet is comprised of hybrid or compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles. There are 788 alternative fuel vehicles out of a total of 1,378 eligible vehicles. CNG vehicles account for 131 of those.
“The clean taxi program shows that aggressive action is possible at the local level to make major reductions in carbon emissions,” said Mayor Newsom. “Today’s announcement reinforces our commitment to bringing these emissions to zero.”
In less than two years after the City passed a law (“Climate Action Plan”) requiring taxi companies to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2012, emissions from San Francisco taxis are now 12 percent below 1990 levels with another 8% to go.
Phasing in hybrid electric and compressed natural gas (CNG) taxis into the taxi fleet has resulted in roughly 35,000 tons of GHG emissions savings each year, which is the same as reducing fuel consumption by 2.9 million gallons per year. That is equivalent to taking 4,700 regular passenger cars off of the road, or saving roughly $9.5 million dollars annually in fuel costs.
According to a statement from the City Mayor’s office the number of alternative fuel vehicles continues to rise because the hybrid and CNG vehicles, while contributing to cleaner air for San Francisco, are also very popular with taxi drivers. Although the fee charged to a taxi driver to take out an alternative fuel vehicle is a bit higher at $104.50 per 10-hour shift instead of $96.50 for a gasoline fueled vehicle, the savings in fuel costs are substantial.
The gradual and flexible nature of the clean taxi program facilitated its success. The program was accompanied by economic incentives from the City to vehicle purchasers in the form of grant subsidies and gate fee increases for alternative fuel vehicles. The SFMTA has continued the work of the former Taxi Commission in coordination with the Department of the Environment to encourage companies to purchase alternative fuel vehicles by providing a Clean Air Taxi Grant incentive. Grants of $2,000 per new alternative fuel vehicle are available to purchasers on a first come-first served basis. The SFMTA merged with the Taxi Commission in March 2009 and will oversee the ongoing upgrade of the San Francisco taxi fleet.
“Innovative solutions like the clean taxi program will keep San Francisco beautiful,” said David Assmann, SF Environment Acting Director. “By working in concert with the industry, San Francisco has created a program that gets results.”
Print 
PDF 