Driver, take me to a greener planet

Boston-based PlanetTran uses nothing but environmentally friendly hybrid cars vehicles for its livery service. A world's first?

Springwise likes the simple premise behind PlanetTran, most likely the world’s first livery service (hired cars such as taxis and limousines) that only uses environmentally-friendly hybrid vehicles. Based out of Boston, PlanetTran‘s fleet of Toyota Priuses shuttle customers to and from Logan Airport and other destinations at standard market rates. While hybrid cars are still expensive, the gas/electric Prius rates 60 miles per gallon in city driving, while a typical livery car like the Crown Victoria only gets 18 miles a gallon. Using PlanetTran won’t hurt your corporate image either, the company recently signed up its first corporate customer: Cambridge-based Gen-zyme, a biomedical research company. With car manufacturers now rolling out new hybrid cars every month (which means more consumers will be familiar with the concept), and oil prices at a historic high, PlanetTran is well-positioned to reap the benefits of this pleasant ‘green meets comfort’ venture.

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