The workhorse of taxi fleets across the U.S. is the Ford Crown Victoria. Also popular as a cop car, the Crown Vic is known for its body-on-frame design (easy to repair) and impressive cargo and interior space. One area it does not excel in is gas mileage, as the big V8 engine aren’t all that efficient to begin with. Task them with the stop-and-go nature of city driving, and gas mileage plummets.
New York City has been trying for several years to force taxi owners to switch to hybrids. A recent ruling by a Federal judge backed up an earlier ruling that barred the city from mandating hybrid taxis.
In 2007, New York attempted to mandate all taxi cabs had to be of the hybrid or alternative-fuel variety by October of 2009. City taxi drivers sued, and a Federal judge agreed, blocking the ruling. Taxi companies work by “leasing” taxis to their drivers at a set rate every shift. So early last year, New York tried again, this time letting taxi companies raise their lease rates to drivers by $3 for hybrids, while dropping the lease rate by $12 for gas-powered vehicles. Taxi companies sued again, saying the law was basically a mandate to buy hybrids. The judge agreed again, and blocked the law.
On one hand, I can understand why the taxi companies wouldn’t want to be forced to buy a new fleet of hybrids. About 28% of New Y0rk’s 13,257 taxis (I thought there were more than that!) are hybrids or alternative fuel vehicles. That is a lot of new cars to buy in short order.
It has long been rumored that the Crown Victoria will bow out come 2011. Ford has already introduced a police version of the Taurus to serve as the Crown Victoria’s replacement. And shouldn’t these taxi cab companies be thinking more along the lines of “The less gas I use, the more money I make!” Maybe instead of forcing taxi companies to make the change, give them a financial incentive. Then again, New York is broke. You can’t drive Crown Vics forever though, and Ford has already touted the Transit Connect as a would-be passenger replacement, and it costs about what a Crown Vic did. Other cities, including Boston and L.A., are also seeking ways to force taxi companies to employ hybrids. They might have to get creative.
So should cities be allowed to set their own taxi fleet standards? Or is asking taxi companies to make a potentially costly change to hybrids too much?
Source: New York Times | Image: Ford
Chris DeMorro is a car enthusiast, blogger, and all-around crazy man who is as passionate about hybrids as he is about Hemis. You can follow his constant misadventures at Three Months In A Mustang.
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Isn’t this backwards??
“this time letting taxi companies raise their lease rates to drivers by $3 for hybrids, while dropping the lease rate by $12 for gas-powered vehicles”
Isn’t this backwards??
“this time letting taxi companies raise their lease rates to drivers by $3 for hybrids, while dropping the lease rate by $12 for gas-powered vehicles”
There is one bit I find strange about this argument and that is the baldly stated fact that thatv the Crown Vic has “impressive interior space”. Where is this vehicle? the ones I ride in are miserably cramped for rear seating, after the driver keeps his seat back and a bit more is taken away for security panels and advertising leaflets.And theback of the front seating front is probably sagging backwards. And don’t let us even get started on the dirt, the seat slashes, the burns from stubbed out cigarettes.
Leaving aside London cabs you could get a clean comfortable ride in a car half as large in Tokyo and in Vancouver you (and a surprising amount of luggage) will have a good ride in a Prius.
The New York cab offers nothing any self respecting passenger would want.
There is one bit I find strange about this argument and that is the baldly stated fact that thatv the Crown Vic has “impressive interior space”. Where is this vehicle? the ones I ride in are miserably cramped for rear seating, after the driver keeps his seat back and a bit more is taken away for security panels and advertising leaflets.And theback of the front seating front is probably sagging backwards. And don’t let us even get started on the dirt, the seat slashes, the burns from stubbed out cigarettes.
Leaving aside London cabs you could get a clean comfortable ride in a car half as large in Tokyo and in Vancouver you (and a surprising amount of luggage) will have a good ride in a Prius.
The New York cab offers nothing any self respecting passenger would want.
NYC taxis are one of the worst polluters on the road. The judge, to say the least, made the wrong call. It’s time to clean up our environment starting with the notorious NYC taxi fleets.
NYC taxis are one of the worst polluters on the road. The judge, to say the least, made the wrong call. It’s time to clean up our environment starting with the notorious NYC taxi fleets.
It always fails when politicians favor a technology, or a fuel, instead of fixing a limit.
They should say that a taxi shall not emit more 250 grams of CO2 per mile, and then let the drivers choose a VW diesel, or a Camry hybrid, or a Crown Vic converted to natural gas.
It always fails when politicians favor a technology, or a fuel, instead of fixing a limit.
They should say that a taxi shall not emit more 250 grams of CO2 per mile, and then let the drivers choose a VW diesel, or a Camry hybrid, or a Crown Vic converted to natural gas.
Taxi cab companies don;t care about the gas use- the drivers buy the gas. It’s a result of the NYC medallion system, where the number of cabs are limited to the number of medallions issued. They go for a tremendous amount of money when one goes on sale. It’s a rare driver who owns his cab and a medalliion allowing him to legally carry passengers in NYC.
Bascially, the drivers are ripped off by the medallion owners. If drivers all owned their own vehicles, you could bet they’d be looking for fuel efficiency.
Taxi cab companies don;t care about the gas use- the drivers buy the gas. It’s a result of the NYC medallion system, where the number of cabs are limited to the number of medallions issued. They go for a tremendous amount of money when one goes on sale. It’s a rare driver who owns his cab and a medalliion allowing him to legally carry passengers in NYC.
Bascially, the drivers are ripped off by the medallion owners. If drivers all owned their own vehicles, you could bet they’d be looking for fuel efficiency.
How about we don’t murder our economy by MANDATING companies buy foreign cars. Plus, if you all got your heads out of your asses you would know the damage a Hybrid does to the environment in the manufacturing process. When the new Li-Ion cars come out, its a different story, but Nickel is really bad. I mean REALLY bad.
How about we don’t murder our economy by MANDATING companies buy foreign cars. Plus, if you all got your heads out of your asses you would know the damage a Hybrid does to the environment in the manufacturing process. When the new Li-Ion cars come out, its a different story, but Nickel is really bad. I mean REALLY bad.
What about the air quality in New York. Where is the otherwise omnipresent NOAA to put order in this mess. Who is ultimately protecting the right of the inhabitants to breahing a decently clean air? Nobody I suppose, the american state is too busy messing about other nations’ affairs in the name of obscure and unsupported longterm policies. Maybe it is time it took its own citizens seriously.
What about the air quality in New York. Where is the otherwise omnipresent NOAA to put order in this mess. Who is ultimately protecting the right of the inhabitants to breahing a decently clean air? Nobody I suppose, the american state is too busy messing about other nations’ affairs in the name of obscure and unsupported longterm policies. Maybe it is time it took its own citizens seriously.