More Hybrid Taxis Coming to NYC
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 06.26.06
Hybrid taxis will soon become a much more common site in the streets of New York City. Permits have been sold for a total of 281 hybrids taxis, which is a tenfold increase. They've been there for awhile; it comes as no surprise to us TreeHuggers that when it came time to auction more taxi permits, though opening bids were set at the discounted price of $320,000, the final bids were much higher, with the highest going for $554,147. Why pay so much? Drivers are reporting that hybrid customers tip better because they're excited about the hybrid experience; add that to the gas savings, which can be up to double that of a regular cab in city driving, and it all makes sense. Nine different hybrid models have been approved for use in the city, from the popular Prius to the luxurious Lexus RX 400h. ::Townhall via ::AutoblogGreen
Yay! I'm an NYC resident and I have been waiting a while for there to be more hybrid cabs (too bad they're not all Priuses).
The MTA has been great about purchasing hybrid buses, it's good to see the TLC following suit.
I'm so happy about this too (mainly because it assuages my guilt when I take a cab because I'm running late), but why oh why are so many of them SUVs? Those are the only ones I've actually seen on the streets. Doesn't anyone at the TLC get it? Is it some kind of ironic statement?
is there a way that we can put pressure on the TLC and the city government to push harder for hybrid taxis? perhaps provide more incentives for medallian purchasors to go for hybrid? i would be interested in helping to organize such a public push, but i'm not familiar enough with the inner workings of the system.