SEAL BEACH, Calif. --- Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has been awarded the contract to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel and provide operations and maintenance for the CNG fueling station located near the base of the Golden Gate Bridge in the Presidio.

The station currently provides fuel for shuttle buses serving residents of and tourists at the Presidio, adjacent to San Francisco's Marina District. The agreement calls for opening the station to full public use by taxis and shuttles serving San Francisco. It becomes part of the growing network of seven Clean Energy fueling stations in the San Francisco Bay area and will help serve the growing fleet of CNG taxis resulting from Mayor Gavin Newsom's Green Taxi Program.

An estimated 1,500 taxis now serve the city, of which approximately 200 already are hybrid or CNG vehicles. Newsom's office expects the Green Taxi Program to result in a taxi fleet that is 100 percent CNG vehicles or hybrids by 2011.

"San Francisco is working hard to put real actions behind its commitment to the environment, as evidenced by the recent all-green taxi fleet mandate to reduce greenhouse gases significantly through the use of alternative fuels," said James N. Harger, Clean Energy senior vice president of marketing and sales. "The lower cost of natural gas versus gasoline and durability of CNG taxis add even more value for the taxi drivers and the passengers they serve."

Clean Energy, based in Seal Beach, Calif., is a major provider of natural gas (CNG and LNG) for transportation in North America. The company has a broad customer base in the refuse, transit, ports, shuttle, taxi, regional trucking, airport and municipal fleet markets, fueling more than 14,000 vehicles daily at locations across the United States and Canada.