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Sheinfeld: Are hybrid cabs really a bright idea?
By Peter Sheinfeld/The Right View
Wed May 23, 2007, 01:52 PM EDT
Cambridge -Now that Boston is using environmentally friendly hybrid vehicles as taxis, Cambridge has begun to address that issue. Boston, with its 1,825 cabs, is allowing the use of Toyota Camry hybrids.
Massport has joined in, allowing hybrid cabs a limited number of priority jumps to the head of the line at the airport taxi pool. This is where cabs are dispatched to various terminals often after a wait of over an hour. This is not a benefit available to Cambridge cabs since they cannot pick up freely at the airport terminals.
Among the benefits under consideration from both the city and the state in encouraging the purchase of hybrids are excise tax savings.
This has a lot of “curb appeal” to the environmentally concerned, posturing politicians, the regulators, and the pretentious.
Hybrid powered vehicles can cost about $6,000 more than their gas-powered counterparts. Taxi service puts a huge amount of wear and tear on a vehicle. The cost of replacing the battery — which is constantly going through a charge/discharge cycle — is reportedly between $6,000 and $7,000. Its lifespan in taxi service has not been determined. The specialized drive train parts needed to maintain hybrids have not found their way to the market so taxis can acquire them on short notice.
In Boston, one person owns more than 300 of these cabs. He commands the resources, facilities and staff necessary to service and maintain these vehicles. He has taken initiative by buying the first hybrid Camry for taxi use.
Proprietors with 10 or fewer cars comprise more than half of Boston’s cab ownership. In many cases they are owner operated. These small operators must bear all the expenses forced upon them, regardless of the consequences. Cambridge is a more extreme example. As in Boston, most of our 255 cabs are independently owned, but belong to a radio association. This why you see many cabs in the colors of the radio associations to which they belong even though the radio assoc. may not own any cabs.
The point here is that the city’s License Commission, which regulates taxis in Cambridge, should proceed with caution. On the surface, hybrids sound like a good idea. The rule of thumb in the auto industry is it usually takes about three years for a new technology requiring specialized tools and parts to become readily available industry wide. Also, within that time the first hybrid taxis which went in use earlier this year will have had time to establish a track record detailing their reliability, performance, etc. The manufacturers will also have been able to iron the bugs out of the vehicles they are selling.
It is easy for politicians and regulators to force the small businessman to spend money and bear responsibility. If there are serious problems with hybrid cabs, will the city be there to bail these people out?
Lee Street resident Peter Sheinfeld is a member of the Ward 4 Republican City Committee, former candidate for City Council (1989) and state Senate (1998), a transportation professional and owner of several taxicab medallions.
