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TAXI! Green airport transportationby Michelle Cinelli
July 8 2007
| | | | It becomes apparent, if you’re trying to be green in the city, that you can’t get everywhere by bike or transit, and if you’re looking for environmentally friendly taxi options there’s only one, and if you live in Toronto there aren’t any yet. Green Limousine is trying to change all that by providing a limo service to and from the airport using the hybrid Toyota Prius. The company started operating in May of this year, and has been very successful. One of the co-founders, Steven Frei, said during the last year he’s become more interested in the environment, and began looking for something he could do to help it. While working at the Toronto Stock Exchange, Frei read “The Weather Makers” by Tim Flannery and for him that was what he needed to get going. “It [the book] outlines the consequences of massive extinction and island submersion,” Frei said “and it also has details about Canada, and the polar ice caps melting,” and these extreme details really had an impact on Frei. The book argues that it’s up to humans to address these issues, and without doing so we are causing huge amounts of damage to the planet, and our future on it. Frei looked around for some way to help and noticed that there is a huge demand for green transportation. “When I was at the TSX I noticed that many corporations were developing sustainability agreements,” and interested in helping the environment, “and they were also using limos and taxis to get back and forth from the airport.” Right now Green Limousine is mainly intended for use to and from Pearson airport, and has developed an interest from the general public; but Frei said Green Limousine also has corporate accounts with companies whose employees often travel. The company is a great success with only a slight drawback; current licencing in and around Toronto put restrictions on the company, mostly for using Priuses as limousines, and the company is currently operating exclusively in Pickering and Ajax. Frei is certain that the laws will change, and why wouldn’t they, there are 1,600 limousines in the GTA registered with the Ontario Limousine Owners Association, and if all these vehicles were hybrid, CO2 emissions would be reduced by roughly 14,400 tonnes a year. Plus the Prius is the most fuel efficient vehicle in its class, and emits 65 per cent less CO2 and 90 per cent less smog causing emissions than Lincolns and Cadillacs which are generally used as taxis. The laws get sticky but it mostly comes down to space. The Prius has enough room for your luggage, but apparently not your legs. Nonetheless Frei maintains that the laws can be changed, and while his customers now are enough to sustain his business, he looks forward to being the catalyst of change and expanding. “It’s nice to be at the forefront of change,” Frei said, “our main goal is to get into as many municipalities in the GTA as we can, and with a little lobbying the laws will change.” Frei said he knows there will be competition for Green Limousine when the law changes and he thinks that’s great. “I want to see as many Hybrids on the road as possible; it’s great when entrepreneurship can help the environment.” | | |
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