CNG Taxis to Hit Streets in Western United States
Administrative Services CO-OP, the largest taxicab cooperative in the western United States, has begun procuring new, clean-burning CNG-powered taxis for deployment by ASC member Long Beach Yellow Cab, according to a Dec. 8 press release.
In addition to this Long Beach-area franchise, ASC operates four other taxi companies in the Los Angeles area — Los Angeles Yellow Cab, South Bay Yellow Cab, Fiesta Taxi, and United Checker Cab — which together serve the region with nearly 1,200 taxis.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. provides fuel for all of ASC's current CNG cabs at its local network of strategically located public access stations.
"ASC taxi fleets will soon include at least 100 clean-burning CNG cabs, and, over the next four years, we expect to replace up to 100 more of our conventional gasoline-powered cabs with fuel-efficient models, including the more desirable CNG models, which will help us reduce our carbon footprint," said Bill Rouse, general manager, Long Beach Yellow Cab. Rouse is also vice president of the Taxicab Limousine & Paratransit Association.
Funding for the new Long Beach cabs was provided by a grant from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. These vehicle acquisition and deployment grants are awarded to applicants who can demonstrate that their projects will produce measurable air quality benefits as harmful emissions are reduced.
Clean Energy provides natural gas for transportation in North America. The company owns and operates two LNG production plants, one in Willis, Texas, and one in Boron, Calif., with combined capacity of 260,000 LNG gallons per day and designed to expand to 340,000 LNG gallons per day as demand increases. It also owns and operates a landfill gas facility in Dallas, Texas, that produces renewable methane gas or biogas for delivery in the nation's gas pipeline network.