In a cab ride last week I got into a Ford Crown Victoria and noticed the windows were covered with the new car listing and the ride was missing that distinct NY cabbie smell. In fact the ride was spankin new. Ricardo got to venting: Apparently the first of October is the last day cabbies can buy and run the Crown Vic in the streets of NYC so he and many of the other cabbies bought up the crown vics in both the defiance of the new law and for the extension of customer comfort.
Earlier this year Mayor Bloomberg had announced laws that enforce a new policy that all the cabs in NY(13,000 this year) were being phased into more gas efficient vehicles. Taxis will be required to achieve a minimum of 25 miles per gallon and a year later, all new vehicles on the road must get 30 miles per gallon and be hybrid.
The Crown Vic has been the primary taxi auto in New York because of it’s easy access to parts, large space and comfort and deals with the Ford Motor company. Bloomberg’s push for a greener fleet has brought up a few objections to the new policy and even a suit brought on by Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade. The suit claims that the new hybrid taxicabs “pose extensive risks and dangers to passengers riding in these yellow taxicabs.â€
And you thought that it was really the driver’s lack or regard to the laws of the road and the pedestrians on the sidewalk that posed the most risk from taxicabs. The report says that hybrids are not made to withstand the 24/7 rough wear-and-tear of taxicabs as the “purpose-built†Crown Victorias are. It also claims the hybrids are not designed to hold partitions, which are mandated by the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to prevent drivers from being assaulted, robbed, or killed. According to Gambardella’s research, partitions could compromise the vehicles’ safety systems by preventing side airbags from being deployed, can be easily dislodged in accidents, and severely diminish passenger legroom.
Ricardo and I also commented on the leg room in the Crown vics: Roomy, you can extend out and even “express yourself“. Eight people can fit in a NY Cab:
Also some of the new hybrids on the road are these Ford Escapes that I have been told are harder for the elderly and disabled to get into because of their increased hight. The Crowns are lower to the ground and thus easier to get in and out of. I’ve been in a few of these Escapes and I can’t even sit in them facing forward; but have to hang my legs to the side. If I’m flagging a cab, I’ll let one of these pass in favor of a Crown and from our conversation, cabbies rolling these vehicles are loosing fairs from the same mentality.
Hybrids obviously offer a savings at some level, both an environmental as well as economic (according to the TLC, hybrid taxi’s are saving drivers $6,500 a year and they have better rates of passing inspection). Ultimately I’m siding with favoring the hybrids, just as long as the automakers create roomier options in the future. If not, I’m sure Ford will be loosing out on sales to Toyota if they don’t resolve these obvious marketing flaws.