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The shortage of fuel efficient taxis to fulfill the city's mandate for a green taxi fleet--cabs purchased after October 1 must get at least 25 miles per gallon-- continues. Now the Post finds "although fleet owners are being allowed to buy more of the gas-guzzling Crown Victorias as they battle Bloomberg's green-taxi rule in court, they're still in a jam because Ford has already stopped making that model due to the mayor's edict." Ha! Overall (not just taxi) demand for fuel-efficient vehicles has spurred the shortage. Photo: Triborough on Flickr
Taxi Cab Crunch
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Is Bloomberg's limo or private jet as fuel efficient as he demands these taxis be?
I don't think that's true at all, I haven't heard anything of Ford discontinuing the Crown Vic and in fact Ford's fleet vehicle web site still lists the Crown Vic taxi package as available for the 2009 model year:
https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/2009fleetshowroom/2009-crviccomm.asp
I'm sure the NYC metro area is probably the #1 metro area in the U.S. for sales of the Crown Vic familly of cars (i.e. the Ford Crown Victoria, the Mercury Grand Marquis, and the Lincoln Town Car, which are all basically the same car) but they are widely used as taxis elsewhere in the country as well in cities which are well out of reach of Bloomberg's 25 mpg edict.
The NYC rules will definitely put a dent in Crown Vic sales but I don't see them being discontinued solely on that basis. They are still widely used as police cars throughout the country as well as the old peoples' transportation of choice.
I would also suspect that the bulk of NYC's Crown Vic taxis are not bought new from Ford but rather are bought from those lots that sell retired police cars. A whole lot of NYC Crown Vic taxis have that "police interceptor" badge on the back.
sj: I thought that was odd, too, but I looked into it and couldn't confirm. The thing is there are actually several different Crown Vic models and it appears NYC taxis are the long-frame version, which is either P70 or P72. There was no way for me to determine availability of that specific model. I'd imagine that Ford campaigns their runs and likely cut down the production for this year due to the NYC changes.
I don't know the exact regulations, but I thought there was some sort of age and/or mileage limit on NYC taxis.
If Bloomberg bought stock in the hybrid car makers, I want him impeached.
The Crown Vic is a big seller in the police market and for some other fleet operators.
All NYC Taxis are purchased new due to TLC regulations. Other cities use retired police cars and retired NYC Taxis (i.e. Newark) as well as livery cab operators in the city. The only time you'll see a Police Interceptor badge of the back of anything marked as a NYC Taxi it is either a NYPD vehicle or a picture car.
TLC Commissioner Matthew W. Daus................
"The recent commitments made to the City by the major auto manufacturers have addressed any availibility-related concerns and ensure an ample supply of clean vehicles to the taxicab industry. There are numerous models of clean vehicles on the market, which has allowed us to inspect and prepare significant numbers of new hybrid vehicles for service, of which there are curently more than 1,500 on the road. Such temporary delivery delays are ordinary occurrences in the auto industry; they have never affected taxi industry service levels before, and we do not expect them to now or in the future."
TLC Commissioner Matthew W. Daus................
"The recent commitments made to the City by the major auto manufacturers have addressed any availibility-related concerns and ensure an ample supply of clean vehicles to the taxicab industry. There are numerous models of clean vehicles on the market, which has allowed us to inspect and prepare significant numbers of new hybrid vehicles for service, of which there are currently more than 1,500 on the road. Such temporary delivery delays are ordinary occurrences in the auto industry; they have never affected taxi industry service levels before, and we do not expect them to now or in the future."
TLC Commissioner Matthew W. Daus................
"The recent commitments made to the City by the major auto manufacturers have addressed any availibility-related concerns and ensure an ample supply of clean vehicles to the taxicab industry. There are numerous models of clean vehicles on the market, which has allowed us to inspect and prepare significant numbers of new hybrid vehicles for service, of which there are currently more than 1,500 on the road. Such temporary delivery delays are ordinary occurrences in the auto industry; they have never affected taxi industry service levels before, and we do not expect them to now or in the future."