Greener taxis coming to New York City
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today announced a plan to make the city's fleet of taxis cleaner, more fuel-efficient, and maybe even inspire new standards for cabs nationwide. This move goes even further than our previous blog post "Rally cry for a taxi revolution," which explored replacing the current Crown Victoria fleet with thriftier, more environmentally friendly cars, such as the Kia Rondo.
After October 2008, the mayor wants all new yellow cabs coming into the New York's fleet to be capable of at least 25 mpg (based on the new city-cycle Environmental Protection Agency ratings), using gasoline-electric hybrid powertrains. A year later, the mayor's plan calls for new cabs to get 30 mpg, based again on EPA city ratings. The move likely signals the beginning of the end for the V8-powered Ford Crown Victoria sedans that make up more than 90 percent of New York's fleet of 13,000 medallion cabs. In our last test of a Mercury Grand Marquis (a twin to the Crown Victoria), we measured only 10 mpg for city driving.
In addition to eliminating Crown Vics, this measure may effectively phase Toyota Siennas and other minivans out from service, as there are no current minivans available that meet the new mileage requirements.
There are currently 375 hybrid taxis on the streets of New York. The most popular are Ford Escape compact SUVs, approximately 250 of which are now in service. Under Bloomberg's plan, the number of hybrids in the fleet is expected to grow to 1,000 by October 2008. Each following year, more than 20 percent of the fleet will make the transition to more-efficient models. By 2012, all of the city's medallion cabs are expected to be hybrids. While the measure doesn't rule out other powertrains, there simply aren't currently suitable gasoline models rated for 30 mpg in city driving, though future technology may provide other options down the road.
This will not mean that drivers and owners will be forced to prematurely retire their current taxis, rather, that as aging cabs are due for scheduled replacement, they must be replaced with models meeting the new requirements. Approximately 3,000-3,500 cabs are replaced every year as they reach their maximum allowable age - three years for fleet-owned taxis, five years for owner-driver cabs, and six-to-seven years for hybrids. While hybrids do cost more initially, the city says each one put into service can save $10,000 per year in fuel costs. And when fully implemented, the new standards are expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 215,000 tons.
A TLC (Taxi and Limousine Commission) spokesperson said other cities are likely to follow New York's lead, and that we should expect to see taxi fleets nationwide start turning gradually greener.
The accompanying charts project the potential fuel and emissions savings. As indicated, AWD models were used for the fuel consumption calculations based on availability of CR fuel economy test data, though the fleet will likely use FWD configurations.
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