VANCOUVER — Two years after Vancouver cab driver Sukhwinder Bains switched his ride from a large Ford Crown Victoria to the fuel-efficient Toyota Prius, the gas savings alone are on the way to paying for his car.
Mr. Bains drives nearly 400 kilometres each 12-hour shift, and his Prius eats up about $15 less per shift than his previous car. That money adds up: With another cabbie also driving his car, it is in use for two shifts a day, seven days a week, and in two years, he's saved about $22,000.
"It's clean, the air is fresh -- and why would you pay more money for gas?" said the 38-year-old driver.
Mr. Bains is an early example of how the strict economics of driving all day, every day, can fuel green behaviour. Of 477 licensed cabs in Vancouver, about 50 are hybrids, and about 80 per cent of the rest are fuel-efficient Toyota Corollas or Volkswagen Jettas, said Paul Teichroeb, the city's chief licence inspector.
Driver Sukwinder Bains’s Toyota Prius helps him save cash while on the job with Black Top cabs in Vancouver. (John Lehmann/Globe and Mail)
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"Vancouver is on the top of the pile of Canada and North America when it comes to fuel efficiency," he said.
The cab fleets in other cities lag behind, he said. Ottawa, for example, has less than 10 fuel-efficient cars out of its fleet of 1,100 mostly large Crown Victorias and Buick Regals, a spokesman said.
Why the difference? It's not taxes: B.C. offers up to a $2,000 sales-tax rebate on fuel-efficient cars, but Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba and PEI have similar programs.
Some credit Vancouver's smaller, urban roads -- the kind of slower, stop-and-go driving the hybrid vehicles perform best in -- while others cite its prevailing green attitude.
"Most areas of Canada, the issue isn't as large as it is in Vancouver," Mr. Teichroeb said. "It's starting to be noticed, but it has not been moved as far along as it has been here."
He doesn't think there's anything to stop other cities from following Vancouver's lead, however.
The recently announced rebates of up to $2,000 for fuel-efficient vehicles apply to both business and personal car purchases -- and could help other cabbies across the country get over the hurdle of buying expensive hybrids, he said.
But some say even the rebates won't be enough to persuade drivers to switch. Most cabbies have to buy their own cars, or a share in one. The higher price of a Prius -- about $35,000 Canadian, compared with a Corolla, which costs about $18,000 -- can put some cabbies off, said Tony Davies of Vancouver Taxi.
"It's going to be push and shove," Mr. Davies said. "Some guys with a few shekels will be okay with it; the others have to wait."
Canada's Office of Energy Efficiency lists the Prius's fuel-efficiency at 4 litres per 100 kilometres in the city, and the Toyota Corolla at 7.1 litres/100 km.
In April, Vancouver's licensing department will recommend to the city that 100 new cab licences be issued with a fuel-efficiency standard: compact cars must get 4.7 litres/100 km, while mid-size cars must have an efficiency rating of 4 litres/100 km.
Crown Victorias, which the agency rates at 14.1 and 18.4 litres/100 km, are a dying breed, Mr. Teichroeb said.
"We have very few of those left," he said. "Everybody's thinking the same thing; nobody's going to be putting those big ol' cars on the road any more."
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