NYC Hybrid Taxis Unfit and Unsafe, Says Report

Yeah, the "dangerously aggressive" here is the cab drivers, not
to mention the hybrid-haters that are clearly in someone's pocket.
.
_H*

 

It used to be that NYC's taxi companies can just go to a police auction and they can pick up a used Crown Vic for $6000.

They are bitching about Mayor Mike's plan to move to an all-hybrid taxi fleet by 2012 because of the cost-- $29,000 for an outfitted Escape Hybrid or HyCam. Compared to the $6000 ex-police Crown Vics, that can be a bit of a hard pill for the taxi companies to swallow.

The taxi association hiring that guy to write that ax-grinding piece is complete BS though. FEHs have been used as taxis here in NYC since 2004 and they have been bashed around as much as the Crown Vics, and we haven't heard of any extraordinary accidents or resulting fatalities involving the Escape Hybrids.

 

It sounds to me as though the real issue is the size of the car, not its drive train. But what this amounts to is that people who spend 99% of their transportation time in private cars, which are smaller than the Crown Victoria, or in busses, which don't even have seat belts, or on the subway, which is full of muggers and sick kids coughing up germs, are being told to be more worried about the safety of taxis, in which they spend only 1% of their transportation time.

I once changed planes at the airport in NYC and had to take a "courtesy car" from one terminal to another. The driver drove like a maniac, weaving lanes and even accelerating full-bore into a parking garage and back out again to get around a car that was letting a passenger out; endangering us both to cut 30 seconds off of a five-minute (or less) drive.

If they really want to make taxis safer they should throw the taxi drivers in jail and hire people who are not clinically insane instead.

 

In fairness to the evaluation of hybrids, I didn't see any examples of crashes that were reported where passengers or rescuers were in danger. I also didn't see any assessment of how much money was saved using hybrids versus their beloved Town Victorias. If they can stick a partition in a Crown Vic why couldn't they put one in a Hybrid, like a Prius, Camry or Highlander? . I love the fact that they used the Prius as cabs (in previous reports) and it was reported that the hybrid battery lasted between 150- 350 K without replacement.
There was some embellishment in the report against hybrids and undying support for the gas guzzling boat on wheels, Crown Vic. Prius owners might see this as more discrimination against the Prius but I have a feeling their was some shadowy deals that were involved to keep this antiquated vehicle as the staple of the cab industry.

 

Ok,

Let's make gas charges part of each cab's rate. The "safe" but expensive cabs versus the "hazardous" but cheap hybrids. We can even have the cabs color coded:

• red - the expensive cabs
• green - the cheap, hybrid cabs

Yeap, that works for me. Rows and rows of red cabs sitting idle while the 'green' cabs never have a problem picking up a fare. A little economic Darwinism.

Bob Wilson

 

Daniel-- next time, do more than change planes in NYC. Your references to life here seem to be from movies of the '70s....

 

Seems to me the real problem is the criminal population of New York. Clean up a very dangerous city and the hybrid cabs will be quite safe without the partitions.

 

hello people... this 2008, not 1978. 8 million people here; note our ranking:

SAFEST AMERICAN CITIES OF 500,000 OR MORE POPULATION:
1 San Jose, CA
2 El Paso, TX
3 Honolulu, HI
4 Austin, TX
5 New York, NY
6 Louisville, KY
7 San Diego, CA
8 San Antonio, TX
9 San Francisco, CA
10 Fort Worth, TX

 

I like New York. While it is HUGE in every sense of the word, it is no different than ANY other city when it comes to crime. I saw the article that referenced the requirement fpr partitions to safely protect the cabbies. Cabbies experience risk anytime a stranger enters their cabs. Cities like New York and Chicago mandate cabbies pick up fares regardless of how they appear, discriminating against minorities, racial profiling by cabbies....
I support cabbies having protection they need to deal with this mandate and I don't think its outrageous for hybrid cabs to have partitions installed.
My question is: why was this article so loaded with information how hybrids don't hold up mechanically or safely while offering no verification in the explanation for recommending Crown Vics.
I guess you can wrap a smelly fish in paper but it's still a smelly fish.....I must've heard that somewhere!

 

Then perhaps the partitions are unnecessary now? I guess the question is are partitions improving or decreasing the safety of the cabs.

 

actually, the real answer is: forget cabs--take the subway or bus, and WALK. Perhaps the best thing about living in NY is being able to do these things, and SAFELY, I might add, certainly in just about all of the city, at any hour. And transit runs 24 hours a day. Most people don't need a car at all--especially with Zip car etc.

 

Hi All,

If my choice was a Crown Vic without rear side airbags, and a Prius with partially effective rear airbags, well, Prius it would be.

What about the dangers of asthma producting idling vehicles in such a densely occupied city? That seems to me to be much greater than the occasional side impact. Put a bunch of people in a small space, and it seems that clean air is more important than an avoidable (enforcable, human caution/regulation) accident rate.

So the question is, is ANY car but the Prius or ANY SUV but the Escape safe for the people of New York City. Not just the riders, but ALL the people!

 

NYC is quite safe. Its one of the safest large cities in the USA and even in the world. I have walked around in NYC at night and felt safer then Baltimore during the day.

The partitions could be removed now. Cabbies might not trust the population and well publicized events might make them resistant but the crime can happen just as easy with the partition in place anyhow. The seat is not bulletproof!

 

So is the solution to outlaw handguns instead of hybrid taxis?

 

Thats exactly what happened here in New Zealand.
The Green Cab Company GreenCabs PH: 0508 447 336 Environmentally Friendly New Zealand Taxi Cab setup with a fleet of Prius painted Green and a discount on the rate.
Passengers started picking them out of the rank and bypassing the other cab companies.
The main other cab company started a string of ads saying they were more 'Eco' but they were caught for false advertising.
Now they are adding Priuses to their fleet. http://www.taxis.co.nz/