USA, San Francisco
The number of San Francisco alternative-fuel taxi cabs is expected to double by 2011 in response to legislation signed off by City Mayor Gavin Newsom. A higher gate fee will be imposed, which will allow taxi cab companies to purchase new alternative fuel vehicles and supply them to drivers. Taxi drivers also benefit with lower gas costs associated with more efficient vehicles that get better gas mileage, or use less expensive alternative fuels."Transportation accounts for over half of San Francisco´s greenhouse gas emissions, and it is imperative that we look to this sector for commensurate emissions reductions," said Mayor Newsom. "The legislation I am signing today complements the pledge I made in 2006 for an all-green taxi fleet and provides a mandate for cab companies to convert their vehicles." Approximately 15% of today´s fleet is either Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or hybrid vehicles.
Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier said, "I´m pleased we found a way to
green the taxi cab industry without bankrupting the companies and
without doing so on the backs of cab drivers."
The 2007 Taxi Emissions Resolution required that the San Francisco taxi
industry reduce its total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 50% from
current levels and 20% from 1990 levels by 2011. Under the resolution,
the San Francisco Taxi Commission committed to work to achieve zero net
carbon emissions by offsetting the total amount of GHG produced by the
San Francisco taxi fleet with an equal amount of renewable energy or
energy efficiency by 2015, and by 2020 will work to achieve zero gross
GHG emissions by permitting only zero emission vehicles.
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