The D.C. Council is debating how to spur many of the District’s 7,500 licensed cab drivers to replace their gas-guzzling taxis with more environmentally friendly hybrids, though the city is not expected to establish a costly mandate.
On the heels of a report that the Washington area outpaces the nation in producing greenhouse gas emissions, seven council members Tuesday co-introduced legislation to nudge the District’s cab drivers toward hybrids.
The bill would create a one-time $2,000 tax credit for any driver who purchases a hybrid car to be used as a District-licensed cab, and it would require the mayor to develop a comprehensive strategy to increase the number of hybrids, from 5 percent of all cabs by 2009 to 50 percent by 2017.
“A robust taxicab fleet is integral to providing residents, workers, commuters and visitors with viable options to move about our city,” Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells said. “But with our taxicab fleet comes a lot of pollution, and it is incumbent upon us to do everything we can to
challenge and incentivize more fuel efficiency among those vehicles.”
That said, D.C. is unlikely to join New York City in requiring the switch to hybrid cabs.
In the Big Apple, the taxi industry is monopolized by a handful of companies that are required to replace their vehicles every few years, while the District has thousands of independent drivers, making a uniform standard far more difficult to implement.
Roy D. Spooner, general manager Yellow Cab D.C., said his company would be willing to at least try a few hybrids in the fleet, “anything that’s going to improve service.” But there are challenges with alternative-fuel vehicles, he said, such as wear and tear.
The hybrid bill seems oddly timed given that District law still prohibits non-D.C. residents from registering new vehicles in the city, said Abdul Kamus with the Ethio-American Taxicab Owners Association. Roughly 80 percent of District cab drivers live in Maryland or Virginia.
“Why should someone invest $25,000 in a hybrid car when they could lose their license at any time?” Kamus asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
