Eco-friendly taxicabs, intended to minimize foreign petroleum importation and create jobs, will soon be available for the AU community to use in the greater D.C. area.
The Obama administration has allotted $9 million from the stimulus fund to convert 1,000 taxicabs in Maryland and Virginia from petroleum to propane fuel. The money will also pay for propane fueling stations to support the change.
This project is a microcosm of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program, which will ultimately convert a maximum of 9,000 vehicles across the country under its budget, according to The Washington Post. It is estimated to save 38 million gallons of gas per year.
The project will cover nine states, converting taxicabs, police cars and paratransit vehicles — typically vans or buses that serve the public upon request — according to Chelsea Jenkins, executive director for Virginia Clean Cities. It will take place over four years and replace over 15 million gallons of gasoline.
“The goal is to displace as much foreign petroleum as possible,” Jenkins said.
Red Top Cabs, an Arlington taxicab business, is one of the companies participating in the project. One vehicle has already been converted and is operating, said Charlie King, vice president of Red Top Cabs. One hundred propane-fueled taxicabs will be created in about six months and it will take an average of 8 to 12 hours to convert each vehicle, according to King.
The company already owns 50 to 60 hybrids out of 350 taxicabs, said King. Hybrid cars use a combination of electric power and gasoline, whereas the propane-fueled vehicles must be refueled at a designated station.
Hybrid cars are usually smaller than a standard taxicab, such as the Ford Crown Victoria model Red Top Cabs uses, said King. However, the new propane-fueled cars will be large enough to accommodate many types of consumers, such as groups of people, families and those traveling to and from the airport with luggage.
Casey Bessette, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, said she prefers environmentally-friendly products, but is not sure it would be a pivotal factor in her decision to take a taxicab.
“I try and make sure everything I use at home is green, like light bulbs, so in my opinion taxis and things I use outside my home shouldn’t be any different,” she said. “But I don’t think I can say that if I was waiting outside and a cab came up, I wouldn’t take the first one without thinking about whether it uses propane or petroleum.”
The conversion to propane will benefit the environment as well as customers and cab drivers, according to King. Taxi drivers are responsible for paying for their vehicle’s gasoline, and the new initiative will save them money because the price-per-gallon of propane is cheaper, King said. Additionally, the propane will be purchased within the country rather than importing petroleum.
“97 to 98 percent of the propane is produced in North America, and we think that’s a good thing,” King said.
The initiative will create 17 fueling stations and 20 certified conversion centers. Project analysts have estimated that one job will be created for every 250,000 gallons of propane sold, Jenkins said.
Propane fuel is not as effective as gasoline in terms of miles-per-gallon, but drivers are unlikely to notice a significant difference, according to the National Propane Gas Associates.
However, Carol Darrow, information specialist for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, does not see propane as a popular alternative energy source in the United States.
People tend to prefer hybrids or natural gas fuel, which can be piped in. Propane must be delivered in trucks, which makes it less attractive and more difficult to obtain, Darrow said.
“It’s a distribution problem,” she said.
However, the NPGA states that propane fuel is in fact a favored alternative energy source. “Propane has been used as a commercial motor fuel for more than 80 years, and more than 190,000 propane-powered vehicles are in use today in the United States — more than?9 million are in use worldwide,” says its Web site. “Propane has become the leading alternative fuel in the United States and in the world.”
You can reach this staff writer at srudnick@theeagleonline.com.
