SAN FRANCISCO — Even here, in the capital of true believers in one thing or another, Paul Gillespie stands out.
The veteran cabby and former president of the San Francisco Taxicab Commission is one of the reasons this city's taxi fleet is vying to be the most environmentally correct in the country.
After years of advocating for hybrid taxis, Gillespie, who says he has "the carbon footprint of an Ethiopian child," now has proof that they are green in more ways than one.
San Francisco's first 15 hybrid taxis, all Ford Escapes, have made it to about the 300,000-mile mark -- nearing the city's official taxi retirement age -- and are being taken off the road. Their longevity shows that hybrid technology is more durable than previously imagined; they also have saved drivers about $9,000 a year, depending on gas prices and number of shifts driven.
"Ford never really intended this vehicle to be used as a taxi," Gillespie said as he tooled around the city's hilly Pacific Heights neighborhood in the silent hybrid. "We adopted it because I was desperate to find a vehicle that would save drivers fuel costs and save greenhouse gas emissions."
The hybrid Escapes were introduced with fanfare at a City Hall news conference in February 2005, touted by Mayor Gavin Newsom as the nation's first fleet of hybrid taxis. Ten were owned by San Francisco Yellow Cab and five by Luxor Cab.
Today, 14% of San Francisco's 1,438 taxis are hybrids. Fifteen percent of New York's 13,237 cabs are, according to a spokesman for the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission, which just passed a hybrid incentive plan.
Just more than 1% of Chicago cabs use hybrid technology, which increases gas mileage and lowers harmful emissions by generally harnessing an electric engine at low speeds and a gas engine at high speeds.
The city of Los Angeles is considering including such vehicles in its 2,300-car fleet, said Bruce Gillman, spokesman for the city Department of Transportation, but there are none yet.
Yellow Cab is San Francisco's biggest taxi firm and has more hybrid vehicles than any other, said Hal Mellegard, company general manager, including 75 Escapes -- small SUVs -- and 21 Nissan Altimas.
Some drivers are loath to give up the sturdy, gas-guzzling Crown Victoria cabs, with their "police-taxi package" of heavy-duty transmission, suspension and brakes, and all-vinyl interior, he said. But with erratic gas prices and a deep recession, the hybrids are increasingly popular.
