Hail a Hybrid

Alberta taxis drive over 100,000 kilometres (km) every year. All this driving leaves behind a lot of greenhouse gas emissions and uses over 13 litres of fuel for every 100 km. This costs drivers over $250 a week.

C3's Hail a Hybrid program introduced the benefits and made a business case for the use of hybrid vehicles to Alberta taxi drivers. In 2006, we handed out incentives to five drivers willing to purchase a hybrid vehicle and monitor its fuel use, maintenance and overall function for one year.

The results have overwhelmingly supported the value of hybrid taxis. Program test vehicles used only 6.5 L of fuel/100 km compared to a conventional taxi's 13 L. In just six months, this efficiency saved drivers over $3,000 in fuel costs and cut emissions by 4.5 tonnes. Drivers also reported considerably less maintenance with their hybrid taxis.