May
23
Yahoo! Taxi: Coming Soon
May 23, 2007 | Posted by SB
Today, Mayor Bloomberg announced that every taxi in NYC must become “green” in the next 5 years, and he’s not talking about the color. Every cab must be upgraded to a hybrid.Â
So if you are Ford/Lincoln/Mercury (makers of the Crown Victoria), bad news for you. But then again, maybe not. The Ford SUV hybrids are currently approved for use by the TL&C.Â
Yes, Hybrid SUV is somewhat of an oxymoron. I believe the “hybrid” portion improves the fuel efficiency to around that of a normal size car. The Ford Escape gets 37 MPG/City, while the Crown Vic gets 17 MPG/City. So I guess it is an improvement. Keep in mind that the Toyota Prius gets 60 MPG, but of course, “gotta buy American made.” Booo.
Anyway, what the hell does Yahoo! have to do with this? Well, they “donated” 10 green taxis to the effort, complete with purple interiors. I wonder who the lucky cabbies to get those will be.
Even now, all new vehicles added to the current taxi fleet must get a minimum of 25 MPG. The Crown Vic is no where close. Then, by 2009 all new taxis must hit 30 MPG minimum. The cabbies should love the savings, but apparently repairs can be expensive.
