Metro Taxi
65 Industry Drive
West Haven 06516
203-934-2096
metrotaxict.com
President: William Scalzi
No. employees: 52 (plus 170 independent-contractor drivers)
Metro Taxi — the cab company known for its orange-and-white cabs and the ubiquitous number seven — has a long history of greening its routine in practically every area of its operation.
In the summer of 2008, Metro Taxi added to its fleet the first hybrid electric vehicle, a 2008 Ford Escape. The car transitions easily from gasoline engine to electric generator motor, meeting changing traffic conditions and getting more mileage out of each gallon of gas while minimizing emissions.
Metro also recently introduced a suite of charge and debit cards: the Metro Charge Card for corporate clients; the University Ride Safe Card for college and university students; and the Gift Card for anyone. The Metro Charge Card has the potential of replacing more than 100,000 paper vouchers annually. By combining this service with Metro Taxi’s new electronic invoicing, the company is significantly reducing paper use. All Metro Taxi charge or debit card are reusable by replenishing online.
It’s nothing new. Metro Taxi has been recycling oil from cars and using it as heating fuel for a decade. Approximately 3,000 gallons of used motor oil per year is used to heat the company’s 3,200-square-foot, seven-bay service department.
So hazardous materials are disposed or reused safely, the company’s service department recycles the company’s used oil filters and anti-freeze and returns all aged batteries to the local auto parts store and recycles the company’s scrap metal.
President and CEO William Scalzi says caring for the environment comes naturally. “Greening our routine has been a natural progression for Metro Taxi. To put it simply, we care and being environmentally conscious makes good business sense,” he says.
Metro Taxi is working with Connecticut Light & Power to retrofit its 13,000-square-foot West Haven corporate headquarters with energy-efficient lighting. On an ongoing basis, Metro Taxi participates in many community events that honor and help protect the environment. For example, the Metro Taxi Hybrid made its first community-based appearance at the 2008 Connecticut Folk Festival & Green Expo at Southern Connecticut State University where it provided free public transportation to the farmers market and Common Ground Farm. The company participated again in 2009.
Metro Taxi also celebrated Earth Day by teaming up with Community Health Network of Connecticut and the American Red Cross. With the New Haven Parks Department and the Coalition for a Safe Connecticut, Metro encouraged the public to “Green Your Routine” through PSAs, taxi-top advertising and the distribution of environmental tips and eco-friendly shopping bags to riders.
“We keep our costs down, pass our savings to our customers and we are able to make charitable contributions to our community organizations. We all win,” Scalzi says. “It gives our employees and our families a sense of pride to know we’re part doing our part to preserve our environment.
“Our future goal at Metro Taxi is to expand our fleet of taxi cabs to run on natural gas,” Scalzi says. “Compressed natural gas is the cleanest alternative fuel available, reducing tailpipe emission by anywhere from 35 to 95 percent. Cars already on the road using natural gas have about 90-percent cleaner emissions than their counterparts. It’s also considerably cheaper per gallon. Natural gas will reduce our imports and dependence on foreign oil. We happen to have an abundance of natural gas right here in the U.S. so we are very excited about the possibilities.”
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