Beginning in October taxis coming into service in New York City are going to be required to meet a 25mpg city rating. The regulation was passed unanimously by the NYC TLC and provides that in Cotober 2009 all new taxicab vehicles must have a minimum city driving rating of 30 mpg. TLC commissioner says this regulation is first of its kind and lays the groundwork for the cleanest, greenest large city taxicab fleet in the world. NYC is working toward and all-hybrid taxi fleet by 2012. There is already couple of these cars on the road: Ford Escape Hybrid, Toyota Camry, etc. Once these regulations are fully phased in, vehicle owners are expected to save between $4000 and $11,000 per year in gas costs, an industsry wide savings of nearly $140 million per year.
There is speculation among key players in the black car industry that these same regulation could soon apply to them. The Houston City Council also recently approved several new rules for the city taxi industry that officials touted as a step toward reducing harmful vehicle emissions. The regulation required new cabs be one of the following: a hybrid-electric vehicle equipped with a four cylinder engine, wheelchair accesibsle or rated to get 20 mph. Houston Mayor says it is still too expensive to impose a full requirement on cab owners but it might be likely in the future.
Hopefully it will not come to the point where all the New York Limousine services will have to switch to alternative power and gas.
NYCTLC