NYT: NYC Taxi Agency Approves Use of Six Hybrid Models

Wow!

City Taxi Agency Approves Use of Six Hybrid Models
By SEWELL CHAN
Published: July 27, 2005


The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, which only recently had raised concerns about the adequacy of leg room in hybrid vehicles, cleared the way yesterday for six hybrid models to be used as taxicabs as early as this fall.

The commission did not have much choice in the matter, because a City Council bill signed last week by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg gave the panel 90 days to approve hybrid vehicles - considered better for the environment than traditional cars - for use on the city's streets.

Even so, the commission's support was striking, because officials had indicated before that they felt none of the hybrids on the market had enough leg room.

Before they met yesterday morning, the commissioners tested several of the vehicles, getting in the rear and front passenger seats and even behind the steering wheels. Peter Schenkman, assistant commissioner for safety and emissions, said they found the Toyota Highlander and Toyota Prius "surprisingly roomy," while the Honda Accord seemed "not as roomy as one would expect." The Honda Civic, he said, "does feel very confined."

The commission's chairman, Matthew W. Daus, said that putting hybrids on the road promptly should be the priority. "Pardon the pun, but I think bigger cars need to take a back seat," he said....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/27/nyregion/27hybrid.html

BEST application of Hybrid technology.

Just simply turning off the engine when stopped would provide a ton of benefits (less fuel, less polution).

It is about fucking time.

Cheers
Drifter

BTW - I own a Civic Hybrid, and I love it.

It ought to really reduce their operating costs.

:bounce:

for Ford to simply hybrid the LTD as a taxi special.

of course, that would require..er..thinking, which seems difficult for those auto companies :P

they all have. Makes getting in and out with stuff very difficult, but I suspect that's also by design

"Even the Toyota Prius, considered the most spacious of the six models with 38.6 inches of rear leg room, has less interior space than the model most commonly used now, the Ford Crown Victoria, which has 45.6 inches. To make up for the reduced space, some drivers will be permitted to install a camera instead of the usual security partition, which takes up several inches of space in the rear."

put in. I'm short and my knees just about bang up against it.

The difference between a NY taxi and a London one is like 3rd world
to first world, and i would hope that in fixing things for disabled
persons and fuel improvements, they consider offering SERIOUS room
inside the passenger compartment.