Columbus, OH, July 19, 2018 - Smart Columbus today announced the award of $30,000 in rebate funding to help Columbus Yellow Cab replace 10 internal combustion engine vehicles in its fleet with new electric taxis. Yellow Cab was awarded 10 rebates through the Smart Columbus Transportation Service Provider Battery Electric Vehicle Rebate Program, announced in June and funded by the $10 million grant awarded to Columbus by the Paul G. Allen Philanthropies as the winner of the Smart City Challenge.
 
“Columbus Yellow Cab demonstrated a commitment to electrifying its entire fleet of 175 vehicles, which travel a combined 9.6 million miles per year and carry nearly one million passengers. This unprecedented pledge stands to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our region and contribute directly to the objectives of Smart Columbus,” said Michael Stevens, chief innovation officer for the City of Columbus. “We celebrate Yellow Cab’s investments in sustainability and innovation are pleased to award these rebates to help foster EV adoption and awareness.”
 
The objective of the Smart Columbus Transportation Service Provider Battery Electric Vehicle Rebate Program is to help accelerate deployment of electric vehicles in high mileage applications, educate the public on EVs and capture data on EV usage. The program pilot was open to all taxi service providers in the seven-county region and administered by Clean Fuels Ohio. Yellow Cab was the sole program applicant and demonstrated commitment to convert its fleet to electric vehicles, educate drivers and riders on the benefits of EVs and share data with Smart Columbus, earning 10 rebates of $3,000 each.
 
“As a company that has operated over 90 years in Central Ohio, Yellow Cab is excited to implement electric cabs in partnership with Smart Columbus, Clean Fuels Ohio and the Paul G. Allen Philanthropies,” said Morgan Kauffman, Yellow Cab CEO and Owner. “Yellow Cab is excited to deploy these electric cabs to improve our environmental performance and show that electric vehicles work in taxi applications.”
 
The Smart Columbus Transportation Service Provider Battery Electric Vehicle Rebate Program is expected to grow to sponsor an additional 30 vehicles in October. In the second phase, the program may be expanded to additional transportation service providers, such as ride sharing services. Rebate recipients will be required to submit monthly data on vehicle utilization to Smart Columbus; data will be used to inform future efforts to grow the ratio of EVs in transportation service provider fleets.
 
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About Smart Columbus
The City of Columbus’ Smart Columbus plan won the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) $40 million Smart City Challenge in June 2016 after competing against 77 cities nationwide to become the country’s first city to fully integrate innovative technologies – self-driving cars, connected vehicles and smart sensors – into its transportation network. Columbus was also awarded an additional $10 million grant from the Paul G. Allen Philanthropies to accelerate the transition to an electrified, low-emissions transportation system. Aligned investments totaling more than $500 million have been made by the private, public and academic institutions in the region to support technology and infrastructure investments that upgrade Columbus' transportation network and help make Columbus the model connected city of the future. Smart Columbus is a regional smart city initiative co-led by the City of Columbus and Columbus Partnership that includes partnerships with The Ohio State University, Battelle, American Electric Power and many more. 

For more information, visit the Smart Columbus website, www.smart.columbus.gov.