[calgaryhhr]

Starting about a year ago or so I started to see a Prius being used as a taxi here in my city. There was only one or maybe a few being used. As of the last few months I have seen the taxi fleet really go green. There are many taxis drivers now running the Prius or Camry Hybrid or Escape Hybrid.

Have you seen a green fleet starting to form in your city in terms of taxi cabs or municipal vehicles etc.?

 

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

In Montreal no. Taxis are almost all privately-owned vehicles (ie owner-operator) and they are still mostly Buick Century / Toyota Camry / Chevy Malibu.

Hybrid may make big sense for taxi fleets with the efficiency improvement in traffic however.

 

[calgaryhhr]

I thought I'd give this thread some new life. I was out in Vancouver for a few on vacation and was really surprised by the taxi fleet in that city. At least half the taxis I saw were Toyota Prius'. I also saw a few Toyota Camry Hybrids being used in the fleet. Of the regular gasser vehicles it seemed as though more than half were Toyota Corollas with the remaining percentage being GM minivans (Pontiac Montana or Chevy Uplander.) I even saw a few Pontiac Aztecs being used as taxi vehicles.

It was really quite impressive to see how much luggage a Prius would swallow. I assumed that the spare tire (if one exists) was removed to make extra space.

It was really interesting to see Corolla's being used as taxis because in Calgary (like many places) most of the taxis are Impalas.

 

[bradyholt]

There's a company in the DC area called "EnviroCab" that uses Camry Hybrids, and I've seen other companies using Camry and Escape hybrids as well.

I also recently saw a first-generation Kia Spectra hatchback cab -- I guess anything can theoretically be a cab.

 

[member12]

No....taxis in this overgrown country town are always going to be a mid sized or large domestic sedan. Mostly a Taurus, Crown Vic, or Impala.

We do have a couple of hybrid buses, though. Too bad it's running along side a fleet that is at least 30% full dirty old clunkers.

 

[Titanic]

Washington, DC is sort of the Wild West of cab-dom. Everything from early 1990s GM B-bodies (I saw an Olds Custom Cruiser wagon taxi last week. How's that for rare), to Prius and Camry hybrids, to GMT900 trucks to Civics, to Dodge Avengers, new Highlanders, to Crown Victorias, to Escapes, to Impalas and so forth. I've never been to a city with such varied taxis.

 

[member12]

Washington, DC is sort of the Wild West of cab-dom. Everything from early 1990s GM B-bodies (I saw an Olds VistaCruiser wagon taxi last week. How's that for rare), to Prius and Camry hybrids, to GMT900 trucks to Civics, to Dodge Avengers, new Highlanders, to Crown Victorias, to Escapes, to Impalas and so forth. I've never been to a city with such varied taxis.

I'd go out of my way to ride in a Vista Cruiser taxi!

 

[King Riffle]

All the taxis here are Crown Victorias, Caravans, or Freestars.

 

[calgaryhhr]

I love the electric transit buses they have in Vancouver as well. It is really great when you walk around downtown and a bus goes by not to have to smell all the exhaust and breathe in all that pollution.

 

[Smaart Aas Saabr]

I love the electric transit buses they have in Vancouver as well. It is really great when you walk around downtown and a bus goes by not to have to smell all the exhaust and breathe in all that pollution.

You mean the ones in Edmonton

 

[calgaryhhr]

You mean the ones in Edmonton

I haven't been to Edmonton very much or experienced their electric buses but it was very nice in Vancouver. I think the Vancouver system is much more extensive than the Edmonton one.

 

[Uzzy]

Well the Veteran Bac Company in Windsor is on strike, so I guess by not driving around, they're pretty green.

All of the taxis around here are Crown Victoras and Impalas. If it's a van cab, it's a Caravan or Montana. Once in a while will you see a Buick Century, Accord or Camry. I've never seen a Hybrid cab of any sort. Several of them run on propane, since they're old Police cars.

 

[vcs2600]

Lots of them in San Francisco - mostly Ford Escapes and Nissan Altimas.

Apparently the Fords have held up very well to the demands and are now being retired with 300,000 miles with no major problems.
http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencarad...selves-equal-to-streets-of-san-francisco.html

 

[nota]

Taxis fuelled by 'cleaner running' LPG have been the norm here since the 1970s with the vast majority of cabs being Falcon.

From one year ago: Prius taxi

 

[F14CRAZY]

Unless maybe it had a cheaper fare, I'd personally avoid riding in a Prius taxi

 

[likearock00]

I think my town has a Oldsmobile 88 and a Chrysler van. Not very green IMO!

 

[mgescuro]

San Francisco's taxi fleet are mainly Prius Hybrid and Escape/Escape Hybrid. Altimas are also seen. Not sure if they are Altima Hybrids though.

 

[drew630]

We have a 94 Lumina that is still going strong....

 

[doh]

1995 Luminas, and E 350 15 passenger vans here.

 

[Ssom]

Where I live in Wellington NZ, we have a taxi company called "Green Cabs" who run a fleet of 50-odd green (Literally) Priuses.

Our largest taxi company Wellington Combined has a policy that all new cabs entering the fleet must be powered by either LPG, diesel or Hybrid. Hence that fleet consists mostly of Hyundai diesels (Sonata, Grandeur and i30), Priuses and Ford Falcon E-Gas cabs. There are a number of smaller firms who use older Maximas, Avalons, Mercs and BMW's (Not very green).