In September, Metro Taxi opened West Haven’s first publicly accessible compressed natural gas fueling station on Industry Drive. Company President and CEO Bill Scalzi made the announcement along with New Haven Mayor John M. Picard, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-3, and Michelle Duprey, director of the New Haven Department of Services for Persons with Disabilities.
An innovative leader in the taxicab business, Metro Taxi initiated Connecticut’s first wheelchair-accessible taxi in 2009 and plans to launch a fleet of MV-1 wheelchair-friendly, low-emission cabs in the near future for the disability community.
During his remarks, Mayor Picard praised the vision of the state’s largest full-service taxicab company for “making it easier for people with disabilities to do things that we take for granted every day.”
The new fuel station is open 24/7 to anyone who operates a CNG vehicle.
By year’s end, Metro Taxi intends to deploy 110 new CNG-fueled cabs, composed of Ford Transit Connects and Honda Civics, to help decrease its dependence on foreign oil, reduce pollution and improve the environment.
The company plans to gradually increase its CNG fleet over time as part of its normal replacement.
By 2012, the CNG fleet is estimated to displace about 500,000 gallons of gasoline per year, which equates to about 10 million pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
In addition, replacing 100 gasoline taxicabs with clean-burning CNG cabs is expected to remove more than 2,500 tons of greenhouse gases annually.
Clean Energy, the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America, built the CNG station at Metro Taxi’s fleet facility, 65 Industry Drive, as part of the Connecticut Clean Cities Future Fuels Project, a public-private partnership.
The station is the first of three set to open in Connecticut by Clean Energy for the statewide initiative.
The three stations, including Metro Taxi’s, are being financed by the CTCCFF coalition from a $13.2 million grant through the U.S. Energy Department and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Private partners are also sharing the cost of the projects, contributing more than $16 million.