Transportation & Energy...

On February 12, EnviroCAB of Washington, D.C., became the first all-hybrid taxi service in the nation. They run hybrid Toyota Priuses, Camrys, Highlanders, and Ford Escapes, with a full complement of 50 vehicles expected to be on the road by March of this year.

This isn't the only instance of hybrids crossing over from private driveways to the public sphere. UPS, for instance, added 50 gas-electric hybrid vehicles to its fleet of delivery trucks in 2006, while FedEx introduced hybrid trucks in 2004, and DHL put hybrids on the road in 2005.

Nor is it the first time passengeners could feel good about getting better gas mileage on the way to the airport: hybrids have been part of taxi cab businesses in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Vancouver, B.C. Our nation's capital isn't even the first all-hybrid cab company in the world -- that honor seems to belong to Green Tomato Cars of London.

For those without the cash to be swanning about the city in cabs all day, many municipalities are going green with hybrid buses. GM received orders for over 1,700 gas-electric buses from Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Minneapolis/St. Paul in January 2008. New York and Ottawa, Ontario, are in the queue for diesel-electric hybrid buses from DaimlerBuses North America, and King County, Washington, will add 500 articulated hybrid buses to the 200 or so already gliding along the streets of Seattle.

If you're a hardcore bike commuter who needs the occasional hybrid car for toting French drain installation supplies home from the sustainable gardening store, there are two options. Flex Car recently merged with Zipcar to bring hybrids (and conventional cars) to nearly two dozen North American cities. Users sign up and pay by the month or by the hour for cars parked at curbisde Zipcar locations around town. For longer trips, Hertz, Avis, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car all offer Toyota Prius rentals.

All of this speaks to the fact that consumers want to drive alternative-fuel vehicles, local governments want to order alternative-fuel vehicles, and even fleet-owning businesses are stepping up the to alternative-fuel vehicle plate. We're willing to forget about the flying cars of the future if the Big Three would seriously get with the hybrid program today.