Hybrid Cars

At what price people will stop driving cars? We discuss this
frequently because the price of gas goes up literally every
day. It's not hard to imagine that this situation is hurting
many businesses. Take taxis for example. New York's Taxi
and Limousine Association recently approved the use of hybrid
cars for taxis -- something they'd been resisting previously.
Cab drivers can now chose from 6 different kinds of vehicles,
including the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape. The Association
members number 12,760 taxi drivers.

The discussion on how to maintain a vehicle-oriented culture
without the gasoline costs has been going on for a while. A
survey conducted by CAST (Coalition Advocating for Smart
Transportation) in the US shows that 7 out of 10 people are
in favor of shifting taxis to low exhaust emission systems
and fuels, such as the Prius and Honda Civic.

I bet the Detroit-based Big 3 will not be happy about this
change, as they are likely to lose a bigger share of the
market than they already have. But observers are saying that
they have to catch up if they intend to survive. It's been
said that the oil is not inexhaustible and we have all
known what was in store, although most likely many of us
thought it wouldn't happen in our lifetimes.

Moving to hybrid taxes will be a small but visible step to
cutting the use of oil products, hence it will also cut
exhaust emissions and thus slow down global warming. I hope
more people chose of their own free will, if not because of
their pocket books, to become more environmentally aware in
their choice of lifestyle.