6/15/2007 9:00 AM
Red Top Cab is Going Green
Article from: Washington Business Journal June 8-14 2007 Issue

The Arlington-based taxi company has ordered five hybrid model Ford Escapes vehicles for its fleet. Red Top is believed to be the first cab company in Greater Washington to incorporate hybrids, which conserves gas by running on an electric motor at certain speeds.  Several independent cab operators are driving hybrids in the region, including a few in D.C., said Doreen Thompson interim chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission.  

Red Top's hybrids are expected to arrive in mid-July.  The cars average 36 miles per gallon of gas in city driving conditions, as opposed to the Ford Crown Victoria models that make up the bulk of the company's fleet and average 17 miles per gallon in city conditions.

Hybrids use a battery-powered electric motor to travel at speeds  under 35 mph employing the gas engine only at higher speeds.  The technology makes them ideal for use in urban areas, a fact not lost on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  

Bloomberg recently announced a shift to hybrid technology for the 13,000 yellow cabs that cruise New York's streets.  Only 375 of those vehicles are currently hybrids, but Bloomberg has ordered that number to rise to 1,000 by the end of 2008.  The new rules won't apply to the other 50,000 cabs licensed in New York.  Thompson says the D.C. taxi commission has been following Bloomberg's plan and may pursue a similar policy in the future.
-Joe Coombs