New York City's fleet of yellow cabs will go entirely hybrid within five years, and all its vehicles for hire will have to meet new emissions and mileage standards by next year, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to announce today.
The city said the increase in fuel efficiency will save taxi operators more than $10,000 per year.
The hybrids that have been successfully tested in the city's taxi fleet over the past 18 months include the Toyota Prius, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, the Lexus RX 400h and the Ford Escape. The standard yellow cab vehicle is the Ford Crown Victoria, which gets 14 miles per gallon
Today, there are just 375 fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles among the 13,000 taxis rolling on city streets. That number will increase to 1,000 by October 2008 and will grow by about 20 percent each year until 2012, when every yellow cab will be a hybrid.The hybrids that have been successfully tested in the city's taxi fleet over the past 18 months include the Toyota Prius, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, the Lexus RX 400h and the Ford Escape.
Besides making the yellow cab brigade entirely green within five years, the city will require all new vehicles entering the fleet after October 2008 to achieve a minimum of 25 miles per gallon. A year later, all new vehicles must get 30 miles per gallon and be hybrid.
City officials said the new standards, when fully implemented, are expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 200,000 tons per year.
Hybrid vehicles are typically more expensive, but the city said the increase in fuel efficiency will save taxi operators more than $10,000 per year. wnbc.com
Awesome!! Mark my words: cities that embrace Green ideas will thrive, while cities that refuse to go Green will be left in the dust.
Just saw on the news that UPS will put 50 hybrid trucks into service for an estimated savings of 44,000 gallons of gas/year.
Hybrids are idealy suited for taxi work because taxis often sit idling or find themselves in heavy stop-and-go traffic. The most efficient diesel would still burn fuel in these situations while the hybrid's engine would simply shut off.