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LA Gets its First Two Hybrid Taxis
Bell Cab introduced the city's first hybrid taxis in Los Angeles today in what politicians hope is the just the first of many in the city's fleet of 2,303. Controller-Elect and current Transportation Committee Chair, Councilmember Wendy Greuel requested the city to create a green taxi plan and today challenged other cab companies to follow suit. "Taxi's in Los Angeles might be different colors on the outside, but my goal is for them all to be green on the inside," she said.
As Curbed LA notes, "we're kind of late to this game: already, 14 percent of San Francisco's 1,438 taxis are hybrids, while hybrids make up 15 percent of New York's 13,237 fleet."
The average taxicab in the City of Los Angeles produces 36.7 pounds per year of smog and 42.4 tons of Green House Gases per year, according to Greuel's office. The new Toyota Prius hybrid's produce only 4 pounds of smog and 15.9 tons of Green House Gases per year.
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