Metro Taxi is looking to the future of transportation in Denver

If you’re getting into a cab in Denver, it’s likely that you’re heading to the airport or home after a night out on the town. We don’t use cabs the way, say, New York City does, but as downtown continues to expand, they’re going to have a much bigger impact on the way the city moves.

To that end, Chris Cotter, director of new business development for Metro Taxi, took it upon himself to initiate a program of greening that has become a driving — pardon the pun — force behind the way Metro Taxi does business.

It started with simple measures, such as recycling, that probably already occur in your office. But then the company took it further, going so far as to recycle its used motor oil to heat the headquarters and to introduce tires with a tread compound made of canola oil, which are environmentally friendly and boast a 60,000-mile life span.

Metro Taxi currently has 30 Toyota Prius Hybrids on the road and plans on adding at least 10 more by the end of the year, bringing the total to 10 percent of the company’s vehicles. Negotiations with Toyota are underway to enable Metro to become one of the first taxi companies to obtain a fleet discount to bring in even more. Cotter says, “the [private town car services] in NYC have a deal, so hopefully, we can too.”

The drivers seem to all be supportive of the idea even though there is a larger fee for the weekly lease of the vehicle. That fee is offset by the environmental impact, the kudos they’ve received from riders, and the savings at the pump, which will help drivers make much more money in the long run.

Cotter says the cars have had a good run in the market generally, citing the city of Vancouver and its switch to a largely hybrid fleet. Denver’s taxis are on the move, and Metro is leading the way.