More cities roll out Ford Transit Connect CNG taxis

“The Transit Connect Taxi was developed using market research we conducted with the taxi industry to better understand what customers wanted in a future vehicle,” said Gerald Koss, marketing manager, Ford Fleet Operations. “The more conversations we had, the more interest we saw in a taxi with the flexibility of offering a natural gas version.”

Yellow Cab of Anaheim and Cabco Yellow Inc. of Orange County have ordered a combined 119 CNG-powered Transit Connect Taxis. While the first 50 will be delivered within the next two months, the rest are scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2011. The Ford dealership, South Bay Ford in Los Angeles, will deliver the taxi units to the cab companies.

On the other hand, 12 Transit Connect Taxis running on natural gas, bought by Taxi Medallion Management earlier this year, started hitting Chicago’s streets yesterday. “We are adding CNG-powered vehicles to our fleet in order to reduce the effective cost of fuel for our drivers, and to introduce cleaner vehicles for the environment,” said Medallion’s CEO Michael Levine.

Moreover, further orders of CNG Transit Connect Taxis are expected to come from other areas of the country, including Philadelphia, the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. Besides, St. Louis American Cab ordered its first Transit Connect Taxi that will be modified to run on CNG.

Source: Ford