If you’ve been to New York City lately and wondered why the Crown Vic cabs of old seem to be disappearing, replaced by a fleet of Toyota Highlanders and Priuses and even Lexus RX 400hs, the reason is simple: NYC doesn’t just want to pimp your ride, it wants you to ride green.
According to a recent article in The New York Times , “all of New York’s…taxis will have to get at least 30 miles a gallon…” by 2012. At present, just 7.8% of cabs meet that target, but a glance at the city’s streets confirms the fleet is changing quickly.
Incredibly, almost everyone is happy with the new law: drivers say gas costs about $25 less per day; the Taxi and Limousine Commission says the hybrids are performing better on inspections than non-hybrids; and passengers are happy they can ride green.
Talk to us! Tell us about the taxis in your favorite town!
Photo: k.kopach
About the Author
More By This Author
- Matadorian Camden Luxford opens hostel in Peru (12 comments)
- Fall 2010 Glimpse Correspondents announced (2 comments)
- Meet a Matador Team Member: Lindsay Clark (3 comments)
Related Posts
10 Comments... join the discussion!
-
-
The first time I rode in a hybrid taxi, I couldn’t even believe it was running – so quiet! It’s great to see big cities adopting these green changes, but isn’t a surprise, considering NYC is already a beacon of green living (by necessity). Take that LA!
↵ -
I rented a hybrid recently and after about 10 minutes spent trying to figure out how to turn the car on (it's keyless), I realized it WAS on… you're right; it's quiet.
↵ -
I rented a hybrid recently and after about 10 minutes spent trying to figure out how to turn the car on (it’s keyless), I realized it WAS on… you’re right; it’s quiet.
↵ -
Wow. That's awesome guys. Although I still think that the most important thing we can do is to learn to live without cars, not develop new ones that run on alternative fuels – there is no such thing as an environmentally friendly car and probably never will be.
↵ -
Wow. That’s awesome guys. Although I still think that the most important thing we can do is to learn to live without cars, not develop new ones that run on alternative fuels – there is no such thing as an environmentally friendly car and probably never will be.
↵ -
I'm all about reducing our dependence on cars – no one in my immediate family even owned one from around 1990 to 1997 or so, which is nice, although I can't say I enjoyed walking a few kms to hockey practice with all my gear – but like the planes, Tim, I can't see getting rid of them entirely.
For one thing, we're always going to need ambulances, school buses, fire trucks and police vehicles – which means we're always going to need reasonably well-maintained roads for them to travel along. (Which means we're always going to need dump trucks, cement mixers, construction vehicles…) And even in the cities that are most well-served by public transit, taxis are a huge part of the equation.
Urban areas can (and should) go a long way to reducing car culture, but the simple fact is that in the country, cars are a lifeline. And how about tractors and other engine-powered large-scale farming equipment?
Finding ways to make engines burn cleaner and do less damage seems like just about the only way forward to me – doing away with the internal combustion engine entirely gives me visions of women dying in childbirth in their homes and near-slaves working in the fields, because low-cost labor is the only way to turn a profit on a manually-harvested crop. Unless I am missing something huge here?
↵ -
I’m all about reducing our dependence on cars – no one in my immediate family even owned one from around 1990 to 1997 or so, which is nice, although I can’t say I enjoyed walking a few kms to hockey practice with all my gear – but like the planes, Tim, I can’t see getting rid of them entirely.
For one thing, we’re always going to need ambulances, school buses, fire trucks and police vehicles – which means we’re always going to need reasonably well-maintained roads for them to travel along. (Which means we’re always going to need dump trucks, cement mixers, construction vehicles…) And even in the cities that are most well-served by public transit, taxis are a huge part of the equation.
Urban areas can (and should) go a long way to reducing car culture, but the simple fact is that in the country, cars are a lifeline. And how about tractors and other engine-powered large-scale farming equipment?
Finding ways to make engines burn cleaner and do less damage seems like just about the only way forward to me – doing away with the internal combustion engine entirely gives me visions of women dying in childbirth in their homes and near-slaves working in the fields, because low-cost labor is the only way to turn a profit on a manually-harvested crop. Unless I am missing something huge here?
↵ -
I recently saw a green cab in DC! Hopefully there will be more in coming months.
↵ -
I recently saw a green cab in DC! Hopefully there will be more in coming months.
↵
