Hailing green taxis, without deadheading

SEATTLE Mayor Greg Nickels' proposal to raise fuel-efficiency standards for city taxis in order to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions is smart, Earth-friendly public policy.

The mayor wants new taxis to achieve 30 miles per gallon or more, compared with today's average of 18 miles per gallon. Fuel-efficient vehicles such as hybrids would be phased in over time as vehicles are replaced, probably by 2013.One other change needs to be made for the new policies to pass the smirk test.

The practice of deadheading — taxis traveling to or from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that are prohibited from ferrying passengers on the return trip — must be reduced.

The taxi industry could never fully end deadheading, but it could reduce the practice.

It makes no sense to have those taxis traveling all those miles empty. In the age of global warming and $4-a-gallon gas, useless trips should instead become useful.

The Port of Seattle, which contracts with the white cabs at the airport, in general does not allow regular cabs to pick up passengers at the airport. In the past, the airport free-for-all resulted in price-gouging, drivers refusing shorter cab rides and an unpredictable number of cabs available to serve airport customers.

A reasonable person would conclude price gouging and short-ride refusals can be stopped with fines and other penalties. A computer dispatch system coming online this spring will help cabs dropping off in the county connect with airport-bound passengers.

There is no such plan for the city, and that is a mistake. The city and the Port have been battling over turf and reciprocity on this matter for a long time.

Nickels and King County Executive Ron Sims are leading the way on green policies. Both are eager to reduce the wasteful practice of cabs traveling empty to and from the airport.

In the interest of greater fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse gases, it is time to reduce the wasteful, counterproductive practice of deadheading.