With their ability to save on fuel costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 to 40 percent, Ford Transit Connect taxis that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) are being hailed as a breakthrough by cities across the country. And this includes major metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and Chicago, both of which will be seeing more of these vehicles on the road this year than ever before. In the Los Angeles area, Yellow Cab of Anaheim and Cabco Yellow Inc. of Orange County have combined to order 119 CNG Transit Connect taxis , with 50 on their way in the next two months and the rest to be delivered by the end of the year. Plenty more of the vehicles should be hitting California streets in the near future, since the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has now officially approved the use of CNG Transit Connect taxis in that state. Meanwhile, in the Windy City, the Taxi Medallion Management company recently put 12 CNG Transit Connect taxis into service to help reach its goal of reducing emissions by 25 percent. And these are just some of the latest places where Ford’s CNG-powered people mover is making its mark. West Haven and Hartford, in Connecticut, will soon have a fleet of 70 CNG Transit Connect taxis in service, with cab companies in Las Vegas and St. Louis joining the club later this year as well. Of course, this increased interest in the high-efficiency Ford makes perfect sense, according to Gerald Koss, marketing manager for Ford Fleet Operations: “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. The more conversations we had, the more interest we saw in a taxi with the flexibility of offering a compressed natural gas version.”

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Ford CNG Transit Connect Taxis Are Connecting With More Cities