AHA! I was very late for work this morning and accidentally found out where one of these cab drivers gets her morning coffee. I didn't have my camera but got a really good look this time! Between the distinctive wheels and little spoiler there was no doubt what that car was. The side said "Yellow Cab" and "666-6666" which is the number listed in the phone book.

 

Taxi drivers rush because the sooner they drop off that passenger the sooner they can make money on the next one.

The owner of the fleet could make them pay for their own gas, or pay them a fixed amount that would work out to 45 MPG.
That would slow them down.

 

Well, I guess it only took me 4 months to come through with a pic. But here she is! I found this one travelling on I-84 west-bound toward Hartford with one passenger. The cabby and the guy in the back were engaged in some kind of conversation, perhaps about the car? I was doing about 60 and they were passing right at the speed limit (65mph).

I resized the image, but the wheels make it obvious along with the HYBRID badge and spoiler if you can make them out:




**EDIT**
If you want to see a slightly larger version, here it is:
https://www.greenhybrid.com/share/fi...3/IMG_0022.JPG

 

Winnipeg's taxi fleet shrinking
Firms choosing smaller, more fuel-efficient cars

Thu Aug 10 2006

By Larry Kusch

Unicity Taxi hopes to add Honda Civic hybrids to its fleet of vehicles.


THE Manitoba Taxicab Board will decide Aug. 23 whether to approve the hybrid version of the Honda Civic sedan for use in Winnipeg's cab fleet.
Honda lists the Civic's trunk size at 10 cubic feet, well shy of the taxicab board standard of 15 cubic feet. The car's battery pack takes up a lot of space that would normally be devoted to trunk cargo.

Unicity Taxi has asked the board to change trunk size rules to accommodate the fuel-efficient car.

Jerry Kozubal, secretary of the taxicab board, said that when the board measured the Civic's trunk and made allowances for other useable space, it determined that the car's usable storage space was more like 13 cubic feet.

The board then decided to measure the usable trunk space in all other makes of cars in the taxi fleet before making a decision on the Honda.

That information was not available for yesterday's taxicab board meeting, Kozubal said. But it will be for the next scheduled meeting on Aug. 23.
Meanwhile, Kozubal said the number of hybrid cars and other fuel-efficient vehicles is growing daily within the city's 409-car taxi fleet.

In the past 12 days, about a dozen hybrid vehicles have been added, bringing the total to 52.

Hybrid cars, which run on a combination of gasoline and electric power, use as little as one-third the fuel of a large eight-cylinder car.

There are now 50 hybrid Toyota Priuses used as city taxis, compared with 40 on July 29, and two hybrid Ford Escapes, compared with one at the end of last month.

Cab owners have also replaced traditional gas-guzzling eight-cylinder vehicles with a variety of other smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles in recent months, Kozubal said.

"It seems like every day were getting a couple of vehicles coming in, taking a larger car off the road ... and basically putting on a smaller car," he said.

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:...a&ct=clnk&cd=1

 

Yep, I've seen a Ford Escape Hybrid taxi today in Winnipeg south. At first I was stunned by the sight of an SUV with Taxi markings, but then I noticed the typical vent on the read side window - and yes, it was an FEH.

I've haven't seen any HCH-II with Taxi markings yet, but the Prius cabs are all over the place. In a short drive I can spot 6 -10 Prius taxis parked at the shopping mall or simply driving in the immediate main access roads.


Cheers;

MSantos

 

Brick,

Thanks for the picture! Good shot, too- I recognized my little HCH shape despite the yellow paint. Even if it was a while coming, it was worth it. That's going to make me smile all day. Hybrid taxis-- people are starting to get it! It's spreading! This kind of thing just gives me such encouragement, because small improvements are like a snowflake- by itself, it melts, and disappears, but add enough of them up and the weight can turn into an avalanche and level buildings. We've got a snowball here, and it's rolling, and only building up speed.