Hybrid Cabs

I was in New York City the past couple of days and I learned an interesting little factoid from one of the cab drivers. Cab drivers have to pay for the gas used during their shift. This is normally about $45 per shift but with a hybrid vehicle the cost to the cabbie is only about $15 per shift. Is it any wonder that all the cabbies want to drive the hybrids?

Just doing some back of the envelope math - say there are just two shifts per day and the cost savings per shift is $30. That means $60 per day is saved in fuel costs. A cab company could just about pay for a hybrid cab with just the fuel savings in just one year.