Green Cab gets a green cab

By George P. Hassett

City officials and owners of Green Cab unveiled the city’s first hybrid taxi this week in Davis Square. Board of Aldermen President Robert C. Trane said the move is part of an initiative to “go green and save green” throughout the city.

“We have the highest asthma rates in the state, we have to do anything we can do to lower our carbon footprint,” he said.

And now, beginning at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning, Somerville residents can call Green Cab and get a hybrid taxi at their door. A hybrid Saturn sedan is the city’s first and, so far only, hybrid taxi on city streets.

Its roots stretch back five years when Green Cab owners started examining the possibility of a hybrid taxi after an MIT student called them with the idea, said Cheryl Horan of Green Cab.

“We’re a willing partner with the city to go green,” she said.

But there are still some questions to be answered about Green Cab’s new green cab. Horan said the hybrid taxi has less leg room in the back seat because of the hybrid battery and it remains to be seen if the new breed of taxi can match the durability of the old ones. Horan said a typical cab lasts about 18 months being driven 24-hours a day. Horan said she hopes the hybrid will last three years but does not know if that will happen. Also, the insurance for the new hybrid costs $4,000 more than for a regular cab, she said.

However, city officials still believe the move could be economically feasible for Green Cab and environmentally helpful for New England’s most densely populated city. “As fuel costs rise, we think the economics will balance out,” Trane said.

Ward 5 Alderman Sean O’Donovan said city leaders wanted to work with private businesses to improve their environmental impact, not pressure them and hurt business.

“You want to be environmentally sound but you don’t want to crush companies economically,” he said.

Somerville’s effort to lead the way in environmental matters has even influenced a leader from another continent. Anthony Raimondi, the mayor of Gaeta, Italy, accompanied Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone to Monday’s unveiling of the new hybrid taxi. Raimondi, who lived on Somerville Avenue until he was 9, said he hopes to learn from the local initiative and bring its lessons back with him to Italy.

“Pollution is a worldwide problem and we hope to learn from Somerville on how to deal with it,” he said.      

Comments

[Curt and Tony]

The caption for the photo in this story should have read, "C'mon Princess Rebba, Bob's thumb is stuck in the freakin door. Give us the key will ya?"
or

"Of course it's green technology. It's got a shamrock on it, don't it?"

[A Different Take]

My caption for this photo is:
"Screw Bob's thumb! Do I look fat in this suit?"

[Highlander]

This partnership is a great example of how important it is to have elected officials that are experienced.

Kudos to the Mayor the Board of Aldermen for doing thier part in attacking a global and local epedimic of pollition.

Aldermen Trane and O'Donovan clearly see that public health can be improved through innovative policy making.

I think we should all reward Green Cab by giving them our business.

[Monopoly]

Yeah Highlander, like we have a choice. Green Cab owns all the hackney licenses that are allowed to operate in Somerville. Unless of course you call a company from outside to come pick you up.

If you really want to help the environement, let's have some competition and giver our business to the 'greenest' company.

[Curt and Tony]

Highlander - have you ever heard the expression "practice what you preach"?

Take a look at the type of gas guzzler vehicles these two in the photo and most of the city department heads drive. Then see if you want to keep praising them.

[JARfromWard3]

New York, Chicago and Austin are all operating mini-fleets of Ford Escape Hybrids in Taxi service. This started about 18 months ago. The taxis are getting approx. 35 MPG around town in actual service and are apparently meeting or exceeding all reliability and durability standards. Drivers report that these are saving them $30 a shift in fuel costs over the Grand Marquis they were formerly driving.

I was surprised to read of the higher-than-normal insurance that green cab is paying. Is that for taxis only (increased liability or some such)?

A friend in Baltimore who owns a FEH said that his insurance was lower than for his 2002 Explorer and he's averaging 32.2 mpg combined after 28K miles in the last 14 months.

Also, the 2008 FEH tax credit went up to $3000 for the 2WD and $2200 for the AWD version.

73
JAR

[Monopoly Says....]

"let's have some competition"

Yeah right!

Don't you know who has "stakes" in Green Cab?

There will never be any competition regarding the cab service in this city......EVER!

[Monopolize This]

Who has stakes in Green Cab?

I might just start my own cab company in Somerville using only hybrid escapes and charging lower fares than Green Cab.

If I can't get a license for it then I'm going to start my business and call it Green Livery. First of all I don't need a hackney license to rune a livery and second, I'll call it "Green" because it's good for the environment.

I'm going to love seeing City Hall trying to wrangle out of this one.

[To Monopolize This]

It has nothing to do with getting hackney licenses or trying to wrangle city hall out of anything.

It's a little more serious than that.

[highlander]

Unlike many of you all i wanted to was recognize the City's leadership on this issue. I do not have a personal agenda like many of you who continue to push negative ropaganda to anyone who will listen. I think it absolutely outrageous that people waste thier time hating on elected officials,especially,since it is very easy to pull papers and run themself.

[Ron Newman]

I think it's great to have hybrid cabs, but we should also have competition. The taxi medallion limit should be abolished, allowing anyone who wants to get into this business, provided they adhere to standards set by the city.

[give me a break]

I cannot believe the nasty venom that is posted here. Not an intelligent comment in the entire bunch. When will you morons learn that you only lower yourself when you post these crazy accusations?

You look like fools and no one with even a few operational brain cells would believe anything you say. I think you should put the cover back on the glue bottle and step outside and get some fresh air. Your brain will thank you for it.

[JARfromWard3]

give me a break:

While I can't boast of an abundance of operational brain cells, I can tell you that the numbers I gave for the Ford Escape Hybrids are actual (at least according to their respective sources). Further, I'm told that the ones in NYC were running in excess of 175K miles as of a few months ago with virtually no problems.

While it appears that this article and its associated blog posts have somehow become a referendum on Green Cab's exclusive franchise on the City's medallions, I was only speaking to the issue of hybrid vehicles in use as taxis (which are a great idea in my opinion).

73
JAR

[Ron Newman]

And all I said was that there should be competition, not a monopoly. I never posted anything here that was an accusation or "venom".

[it *is* funny]

Have no idea what venom that poster was referring to. Whatever. Anyway, last night I was in traffic next to a hybrid "green" Boston Cab. We were both stuck at a light and I thought the taxi's engine was actually off it was so quiet. It also wasn't spewing loads of black smoke the way some cabs do. I had time to look closely at the vehicle to see if it was teeny tiny as some people have stated about hybrids -- it was a Toyota Camry and seemed spacious enough for the two patrons inside. I'm ALL FOR these green cabs in Somerville.

[JARfromWard3]

The hybrid you saw in traffic probably WAS "off"--at least its internal combustion engine was shut down.

They have auto-on/off engines. The Ford Escapes use what is called an Atkinson-Cycle 4-cylinder IC engine, both to augment the battery-powered electric drive and to recharge or maintain the battery's voltage potential as called for by the demands of driving. The vehicle, in most cases, starts out in all-electric mode and runs that way up to approx. 25 mph, beyond which the IC engine starts automatically. That is part of the reason the city MPG is better than the highway, in contrast to typical straight IC-engined vehicles. The transmission has an electric motor integral with it and a clutch arrangement that allows it to continuously--and quite seamlessly--transition in and out. Remember, electric motors don't have to "idle". But you are right, it is kind of spooky the first time you go to step on the accelerator a a green light and pause for just a second thinking that you have to reach for the key to start the engine.

The FEH's don't lack for power though. My friend chirped the tires easily in electric mode while the engine cut in for the 0-60 mph demonstration. It was inspiring, to say the least.

One phenomenon which occurs with many of the full hybrids is that they do not immediately produce the MPG results that they come advertised with. The reason for this is they have to "season" or otherwise adjust to suit the individual driver's usage patterns. The computer "learns" this over time (relatively quickly in most cases) and compensates accordingly. There are various instruments that show real-time mileages as well as totalizers and so on.

BTW, in developing the FEH, FoMoCo used a number of patents it purchased rights to from Toyota.

73
JAR

[Ron Newman]

Would that be a problem for taxis (or rental cars), which have many different drivers over time?

[Mark Blanchard]

If as a city we don't require all the cabs to go green then why should the state fund the development of a green line here? If we don't help ourselves first then the I don't blame everybody else for not getting us a green line.

[JARfromWard3]

Ron:

Yes and no.

First, the distinction needs to be made between "drivers" and "driving conditions". In order to attain its optimal economy, just about any vehicle needs to have a regular driver who is diligent in practicing fundamentally good driving techniques. That's why "your actual mileage may vary" is always attached to the small print. Overall, hybrid vehicles in fleet uses and the like will typically exhibit poorer mpg averages. However, they are still better than straight Otto cycle-powered vehicles in the same applications. In fleet useage, reliability and high utilization (or lack of downtime) is the key to productivity and extracting maximum value from the capital. That's why reliabilty of these full hybrids is so paramount. MPG is secondary at best... remember, the rental company isn't buying the gas but they sure as heck don't want to have to come and get you on the roadside either.

Also, the performance and economy that hybrids get is, to some extent, restricted by the compromises that have to be made in creating a seamlessly operating machine for the average driver. If these were designed only for, say, the extreme hyper-miling enthusiast, they would probably get 60 or 70 mpg or more. To do so, however, they would sacrifice certain aspects of performance (much of which would be programmed into the computer from the begininng).

73
JAR

[The Big Giant Head]

Damn, O'Donovan, you're getting fat. Maybe you should eschew the cabs all together and walk a bit more...