Hybrid taxis are a good idea, but Mayor Bloomberg’s thuggish methods for encouraging them is bad says Judge Paul Crotty. He ruled against the city’s latest attempt to force cab owners to go green, citing existing federal laws and effectively stalling the mayor’s fantasy of an all hybrid fleet by 2012. |Bloomberg|
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Bloomberg’s Green-Cabs Stall
By Bucky Turco |
2 Responses to “Bloomberg’s Green-Cabs Stall”
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I actually had a wonderful conversation with a cabbie a few months ago about the hybrid cabs situation. He says that unfortunately, "going green" is really financially hurtful to the cab drivers. For anyone that needed to purchase a hybrid car or van last year, they had to either wait around for Ford's model to be released (and hence lose some income), or settle for a crappier model of some other make. Additionally, the medallions charge the cabbies more for refueling, so even though they have to refuel less often, they actually end up losing money.
So maybe this stalling has something to do with legislature involving fairer policies towards the drivers?
We can all hope, anyway.
oh, and the charges to fix a hybrid car — specifically the fancy battery that makes it run — are astronomical. all out of the pockets of the cabbies.