Chauffeur Service Startup Goes Green
“Most people who reach the age of 50 start thinking about how to prepare for retirement. Jim Whiteside was ready to start a whole new career.
Whiteside sold his interest in a medical supply company after 30 years in that business and started a chauffeured hybrid-vehicle transportation service in May.
Tempe-based EnviroCar is a cross between a taxi and limousine service, offering trips around the Valley to clients who schedule rides in the company’s fuel-efficient Prius and Lexus hybrid cars.
“I felt this was a business we have a need for in Phoenix with our air pollution problems,” he said. “It’s a socially responsible business, which caught my interest.”
Most of Whiteside’s corporate and individual clients use the service for rides to and from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. But he said others are using it for such activities as a dinner out, trips to sports venues or shuttling children to and from school. Some couples are even using it for “green” weddings, he said.
Alternative-fuel transportation services are becoming more common as environmentally conscious riders seek to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions.”