Of the city's 2,500 taxis, 75 percent have been using LPG on specially-installed LPG tanks, said Edgar Violan, action officer of the regional office of the LTFRB here.
In a press conference Thursday at the Task Force Davao headquarters here, Violan said that the campaign on shifting to LPG among airconditioned taxes was already started last year through LTFRB Memorandum Circular 2006-0027.
Sixty percent of all the taxis in the city are air-conditioned.
"Of 2,500 units in Davao City, 75 percent are already LPG-fed," he said.
He said that autogas, the LPG used as automotive fuel, "is cleaner than conventional fuels.” Compared with gasoline-fueled vehicles, LPG typically has around 20 percent less ozone- forming potential, he added. (Ozone-forming potential is a measure of the tendency of a vehicle fuel source to generate photochemical smog, which causes cancer and respiratory problems).
He said that autogas has also at least 15 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions, and up to 80 percent less toxic emissions.
Besides, he said, autogas "also costs less than gasoline.”
To encourage taxi operators to convert their taxis from regular fuel to LPG, the LTFRB has increased the franchise term by more than three years than regular franchise. The latter's franchise for the taxis expires in 10 years but LPG-fed taxis expires in 13 years. (MindaNews)
