Clean Air Cab was an

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

-based carbon-neutral

taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

service provider, and the second taxi fleet in the U.S. to use only hybrid vehicles. Based in

Mesa, Arizona Mesa ( ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 504,258 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Arizona, third-most populous city in Arizona, after Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, T ...

, it served the Phoenix area with environmentally friendly transportation service by using clean automotive technology. Clean Air cab ceased operations November 2016.

Description

The main goal of the operation was to be an environmentally aware business, and to take action to mitigate the damage done by pollution while providing a reliable and competitive transportation service. Launched in October 2009, it was the first subsidiary company of Beyond Green, L.L.C. The taxi fleet once consisted of 29

Toyota Prius The is a Compact car, compact/small family car, small family liftback (supermini/subcompact sedan (car), sedan until 2003) produced by Toyota. The Prius has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combined with an internal combustion ...

vehicles, whose hybrid design helped cut emissions by 66% compared to typical taxi fleets of Ford Crown Victorias. Only vehicles that qualified as Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicles, which are hybrid vehicles that work to minimize air pollution, were used. Using hybrid vehicles helped the state of Arizona do its part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in compliance with the Western Climate Initiative, which is "a collaboration of independent jurisdictions who commit to work together to identify, evaluate, and implement policies to tackle climate change at a regional level." The company purchased

carbon offset Carbon offsetting is a carbon trading mechanism that enables entities to compensate for offset greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce, avoid, or remove emissions elsewhere. When an entity invests in a carbon offsetting ...

s and supported

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

by subsidizing the planting of 10 rain forest trees monthly for each cab in service. Their atmospheric carbon reduction partners were Trees for Tempe at the local level, and Trees for the Future and Carbonfund.org on a global level. Since October 19, 2009 over 15,000 trees had been planted.

Charity involvement

Clean Air Cab had a "Pink Cab", where some of the fares are donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Three more cabs were added in 2011, for the Phoenix Children's hospital,

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

, and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. In December 2009, Clean Air Cab sponsored the Pro Players Classic charity golf tournament. Clean Air Cab actively participated in the Valley Metro's Adopt-A-Station program to maintain cleanliness at light rail stations, promoting the use of environmentally friendly transportation choices.

Affiliations

Clean Air Cab was a member of both the Phoenix Green Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. It was also a member of Valley Forward, a Phoenix-based

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

focusing on environmental protection and sustainability. In February 2013 Clean air Cab joined One Community and signed the Unity Pledge decreeing equality for all individuals regardless of orientation in the work place.

References

{{Reflist Taxis of the United States Taxi companies Green vehicles

Description

Charity involvement

Affiliations

See also

References