Boston's Taxi Fleet to be 100% Hybrid by 2015

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Lrfox

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Boston's taxi fleet to go hybrid by 2015
August 29, 2008 05:00 PM

(Erik Jacobs for The Boston Globe)

By Globe Staff

All Boston taxis will be required to be hybrids by the year 2015, the mayor and police commissioner announced today.

Mayor Thomas Menino said in a statement that requiring taxis to go hybrid will be "an essential step" in improving air quality.

The city said it was also implementing new standards intended to improve taxi service for residents and visitors.

Marckinson Charles, president of the Independent Taxi Operators Association, said, "We're not ready for this. ... If by 2015, we all have to have hybrids, we have a problem."

More: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/08/bostons_taxi_fl.html
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Anyone else think aside from the logistics, putting all of your eggs in one basket is a bad idea? By 2015, there's a good chance hybrids will be old news.
 
That's a good point, Lrfox. I think a new, more effective way to ensure that the taxi fleets are completely up to date would be to require that they be in compliance with the latest standards/technology.

Not that having an all hybrid fleet is bad. Its just that Menino continually touts that Boston is at the forefront of green technology. If he wants to back that statement up, he should be positive that he is up to date with the latest 'green' tech., not something that could possibly be, as Lrfox said, old news.
 
Lrfox said:
Anyone else think aside from the logistics, putting all of your eggs in one basket is a bad idea? By 2015, there's a good chance hybrids will be old news.
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... and laughed, and laughed.

I can't wait to argue with someone who doesn't speak English about how to use my CC in a cab while they yell on cellphone and try to take three fares while wearing a ripped up muscle short and cargo shorts.
 
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Not only that but the Hybrids only see returns if the driving takes advantage of the electric engine. It would require reeducation of the drivers of how to drive using regenerative breaking and more drawn out acceleration - as opposed to the slamming on the brakes and gas that is pandemic within the profession.
 
Lrfox said:
Anyone else think aside from the logistics, putting all of your eggs in one basket is a bad idea? By 2015, there's a good chance hybrids will be old news.
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Hybrids have been around for 5 years now. By 2015, they will have been around for more than 10.

If the taxi company is complaining about implementing a 13 year old technology in their fleet, they would never go for something newer or greener.

Besides, hybrid technology is perfect for taxi drving.
 
At least they aren't screwing around with the black cab fleet yet like New York suggesting they switch from Town Cars to Nissan Altimas. I'd be more comfortable in my large suitcase than in the back of one of those things going to Logan.
 
Report calls hybrid cars unsafe for cab use

NYC taxicab board files lawsuit to stop switchover mandate

The hybrid taxicab debate picked up speed yesterday after an industry report deemed the vehicles dangerous given the demands of the trade. The report followed a mandate by city officials last week requiring all taxis switch to hybrids by 2015 and prompted charges of inadequate testing in New York City.

The hybrid cabs used in the greening of New York?s fleet have been called ?unfit and unsafe? by the city?s largest fleet owner association. New York?s Metropolitan Taxicab Board released the report yesterday by a well-known auto engineer blasting the vehicles and filed a lawsuit to stop the city?s mandate requiring all new taxis hitting the street after Oct. 1 have a rating of at least 25 miles per gallon. The Taxi and Limousine Commission did not adequately test the safety of new vehicles, the group charges.

?Hybrids were designed to be personal cars for driving 10,000 miles a year, not 100,000 miles a year, like taxis,? said Michael Woloz, spokesman for the group.

The partitions installed in hybrid cabs block side-curtain airbags, according to the report by C. Bruce Gambardella, who claimed that the 10 inches less of legroom than the Ford Crown Victoria would result in more passengers hitting their faces, even with seatbelts.

?You don?t wait until the first passenger is killed or hurt in a hybrid taxi because of the unintended use,? Woloz said.

Meanwhile in Boston, there are already 50 hybrid taxis in service, according to the city, and several local industry members told Metro last week that taxis going hybrid is right for the environment. But they also expressed concern whether those vehicles can withstand the daily grind as a taxi, also lamenting their limited availability and high purchase costs.

?How will they stand up, that?s a big question,? Andrew Hebert, an activist on taxi issues and manager at USA Taxi in Dorchester, said at the time.

But Boston Police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said yesterday the department is relying on the federal government?s determination that hybrids can be used for that purpose.

?We are comfortable and confident the federal government has set the appropriate standards,? she said.
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LINK
 
I see all sorts of legal issues arising out of this. The NYC lawsuit will go down in boston as well.
 
The companies are arguing safety as an excuse to not purchase hybrids over cheaper used police cars. Used police cars, which I might add, often don't even have working side air bags. Cab companies don't pay for gas, the drivers typically do, so this is a case of management being tightwads. I'm sure many cabbies would prefer to have hybrids to have less of their fares spent on fuel.
 
The partitions are there because of 'late night' or 'last call' activity in cabs. They also allow drivers to keep suspicious passengers from sitting next them them and pulling a knife. If drivers don't feel safe without them, and the partitions are removed,expect it to be very difficult to get a cab late at night.
 
lurker, where are you getting this information that used cop cars dont have working side airbags?

There are plenty of cabs now in the city w/o partitions and still have late night service, it might prevent drivers from going to Dorchester, Mattapan etc., but not downtown.
 
In all my years living in the city I've never gotten a cab, other than a van cab, that didn't have the plexi-glass or birdcage partitions.

As far as the airbags which I'm unsure if they are required in cabs by law? I've seen plenty of cabs get t-boned or sideswiped without airbags deploying. This leads me to believe they aren't working, have been removed for their value as spare parts, or maybe some mechanics are discretely removing them to cut down on fuel guzzling weight? Doors with airbags feel a little heavier on the hinges and make a deader sound when slammed shut. I've noticed getting in and out of some cabs of the same make, model, interior finishes, locks, seals. etc. that sometimes the doors feel lighter and slam with a different sound.
 
Cabs are excused from many safety regulations, such as seatbelt laws. I wouldnt be surprised if they didnt require airbags
 
"Hybrids will be old news"- the future seemed so far away.
 
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