VANCOUVER (CP) - The B.C. government is putting pressure on taxi companies in its two largest urban areas to run greener vehicles.

The province has asked the province's Passenger Transportation Board to approve taxi licences for only hybrid or other highly fuel-efficient cars, Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said Monday. He also wants the 100 existing applications before the board to only be approved if they're for the greener vehicles.

"The combination of these efforts is going to be very important as we go forward to ensure that in British Columbia, we are leaders in North America in ensuring that we have a taxi industry and taxi fleet operating 24 hours a day that is clean, that is green and environmentally sensitive," Falcon said at a news conference, flanked by two hybrid taxis.

The province recently said it wants to reduce British Columbia's greenhouse gas emissions by 33 per cent below current levels by 2020 and Falcon said this move is part of that initiative.

He said there are a couple of programs to help taxi companies make the switch to greener vehicles.

One is a provincial tax exemption of up to $2,000 for fuel-efficient vehicles; the other is a federal program that offers a rebate of up to $2,000.

One taxi company manager said he is glad to see the province is getting behind more fuel-efficient vehicles, something the industry itself has been doing for the last seven years.

"In general we're getting away from the days of the old used police cars and those old big gas guzzlers," said John Palis, general manger of Black Top and Checker Cabs.

"It's a matter of economics plus it's the correct thing to do."

The lifespan of a taxi is about three or four years, Palis said, and hybrid vehicles have proven themselves to be among the most reliable his company has ever purchased.

"When you think that a cab is on the road 24 hours a day, seven days a week and off the road only for maintenance, you're talking about a savings in excess of $10,000 to $12,000 annually," he said. "Over the course of four years the vehicle virtually pays for itself."

Palis said one drawback is that the technology has not caught up to wheelchair-accessible vehicles, which make up 50 per cent of the new cars coming on the road this year.

Falcon said he'd like to see the entire fleet made up of eco-friendly vehicles by the 2010 Olympic Games and Palis said the turnover in vehicles between now and then makes it a certainty.

"During that period between now and 2010 you're going to see a shift in vehicles, vehicles that are going to be replaced are obviously going to be replaced with vehicles that are more fuel efficient," he said.

"(With) $1.30 a litre, if you're the businessman what are you going to do?"