Yes, I’m running a bit slow in my news-reading and regurgitation, but in case you haven’t already hear (via the Wall Street Journal (subscriber link)):
The 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 announced Tuesday.[...]
“There’s an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City obviously, so it makes a real big difference,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes; this does a lot less. It’s a lot better for all of us.”[...]
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 must be hybrid.
I caught an interview with Bloomberg discussing this, and other steps that the City of New York is taking to reduce its environmental impact, including the trendy-and-obvious step of switching to CFL’s, as well as shifting more cops to bike patrols.
The press has generally been positive on the shift. I’m surprised that I haven’t heard complaints from cabbies who will be forced to potentially have to put up a bit more to get a new cab…but then again, NYC does limit the age of vehicles used for cabs, and has fairly stringent requirements as it is. Perhaps this won’t require a significantly higher outlay.
Overall, I think this is a good move, especially considering how much gas is wasted in the City from just idling in traffic.