Those deadlines for greening things up are getting closer, and new goals are getting shorter timelines – and this is highlighted by Boston’s mayor Thomas Menino stating that all of the city’s taxis will be hybrid by 2015.

Now, he called for the taxis to be replaced with hybrids, though we know that a slightly greener method would be converting existing taxis to hybrids, or all new taxis must be hybrids, etc. However, green steps are green steps, and they don’t want to be shown up by New York.

Plus, that short timeframe thing is accentuated further by city officials saying they expect that half the goal will be reached within two years. This is expected to happen in part because as of January, any cab older than 6 years has to be replaced.

Of course, this is an expensive endeavor, the cost of which will be reflected in the rates. Hopefully this doesn’t deter people from catching a cab instead of driving, but if it does, we might know where they can get a used car… Eco-friendly cabs are popping up more often, and it’ll be interesting to see what model they choose.

Via Inhabitat, Photo via chunyang