Sweet Victory: NYC Makes Way for Hybrids

Frustrated by exorbitant gas prices, Kwame Corsi, a taxi driver from the Bronx, had been waiting years for the chance to drive a hybrid car. In New York, where 93 percent of the city's cabs are Crown Victorias (large Ford models that guzzle a gallon every twelve miles), drivers like Corsi often pay up to $100 dollars a day on fuel. Up until last week, New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission had refused to grant medallions for hybrid taxis.

Now, thanks to the City Council's unanimous decision to approve the "Clean Air Taxis Act ," Corsi will get his wish and New Yorkers will literally breathe easier. New York, which was ranked by the American Lung Association as one of America's most polluted cities in 2004, suffers from the highest asthma mortality rate in the country. But under the new law, which will put hybrids on the street by this fall, the harmful emissions spewed out by New York's fleet of 13,000 cabs will be dramatically reduced. According to the Sierra Club, hybrids are particularly well-suited for New York City, because the greatest difference in emissions from hybrids comes under conditions of slow traffic and idling.

"The New York yellow taxi is an American icon. What better way to showcase a great solution to our air pollution and oil dependence problems?" said Mark Izeman of the NRDC in a press release from the Coalition Advocating for Smart Transportation (CAST), a group that has been at the forefront of the fight for green cabs in New York City.

New York's high profile win is the latest in a string of victories for the "Green Fleets" movement. A few weeks ago, legislators in Charlotte, NC voted to hybridize the city's municipal fleet, and Denver, Seattle, and Madison have also made strides in converting their fleets to green.

As is increasingly the case, cities across the country are making progressive strides in the face of an obstinate administration that refuses to declare its independence from oil. It's time to tell Congress to seriously invest in a clean energy plan. Take action by supporting the Apollo Alliance and clicking here to send a letter to your Senators and Congressmen.

We also want to hear from you. Please let us know if you have a sweet victory you think we should cover by e-mailing nationvictories@gmail.com.

Co-written by Sam Graham-Felsen, a freelance journalist, documentary filmmaker and blogger (www.boldprint.net) living in Brooklyn.

Comments (16)

1. Good for NYC! I just don;t think hybrids are the best deal for people. If you do the math correctly, you could be spending more than 5-10K more after 5 years and the resale on them is horrendous. Also, a study I saw said that miles saved is not measured correctly.

   Is it or is it not true that to make the hybrid energy cells, it causes more polution to make them and when they are in an accident or the car dies, it is going to be a hazardous waste product?

   Posted by dancall at 07/08/2005 @ 12:42pm

2. Dancall,

   Actually, hybrids are the "best deal for people" in our current car market. I have no idea where you got your stats from ($5-10K more?), but the resale market for hybrid cars is one of the best in the automotive industry. That's why there's still a waiting list for new hybrids for up to 6 months in many states. Anyway, who's going to buy an old cab?

   Check out this site for the real story www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/hev/

   Posted by Daniel Rubin at 07/08/2005 @ 1:14pm

3. Daniel, It was based on the math that hybrids cost more then regular cars and when doing the math on the difference between money saved by total driven mileage, it favors buying gas, getting less mileage then the price difference of a new hybrid. Plus, people do not take into the consideration of the APR and financing. I did hear, however, that hybrids can be used as a tax wright off, but not sure. About the resale values, they are high now bcause they don't have a lot on the roads, once regular cars come down in pricing (like what GM did) the size and power of the car will out weigh the fuel cell cars. just a buyers perspective. Do you know anything about the actual making the the fuel cells?

   Posted by dancall at 07/08/2005 @ 2:42pm

4. Hybrid cars do not use fuel cells (yet). For the buyer, the cost differential of around $2,000 does not match the savings of around $300 per year on gas. A small tax break does help.

   If gas prices ever reach $5.00 (as in Europe), then the math works.

   Hybrids appear to have fewer engine problems because they run the engine at a fairly steady speed or not at all. We'll have to wait and see if the maintenance costs are smaller.

   Finally, why not contribute to improving the quality of the air you breathe?

   Posted by adr at 07/08/2005 @ 3:19pm

5. While I agree that this is a good thing for NYC, the best solution (in my opinion) is the use of biodiesel. "... the use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today, but such oils may become, in the course of time, as important as petroleum and the coal-tar products of the present time" (Rudolph Diesel-1912). Indeed, it seems to be a great alternative. Biodiesel is domestically produced (from vegetable oil or the oils produced by certain types of algae which is the best way to produce the oil), renewable, much less pollutant than petro diesel or gasoline, uses current refueling infrastructure, requires minor vehicle modifications (no vehicle modifications are required on newer vehicles), is better for the vehicle due to increased lubricity, is biodegradable & non toxic (especially when blended with ethanol instead of methanol). Eco friendly folks are already making their own. The only issue with using biodiesel as a solution is that states like California have outlawed diesel cars & small trucks due to emissions. Also it costs more than regular diesel (about $2.75 a gallon) Go to www.biodiesel.org or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel for all the info & links to other sites. Biodiesel development seems like a much better investment than 1700 lives & more than $200 billion.

   Posted by thejman at 07/08/2005 @ 3:40pm

6. Dude, anything to clean up the environment and stop the oil wars.

   Posted by dancall at 07/08/2005 @ 3:47pm

7. Daniel! It would be great if there were properly defined numbers for the costs the city, county, state and nation pay for the medical treatment of asthma sufferers in NYC. I can only guess that the e-taxis will save us millions of dollars in the long run.

   Posted by dave_l at 07/08/2005 @ 3:50pm

8. ADR's comment that "if the gas prices ever reach $5.00, then the math works" is key. Gas prices will no doubt exceed $5.00 in a couple of years (turns out the Chinese love cars, too). But apart from the cost effectiveness, the 45 mpg my Prius averages is simply better for the country and the world than my old Honda CRV's 28 mpg.

   Posted by Mariner at 07/08/2005 @ 4:30pm

9. Hey, vegetable oil, electricity, water, chicken nuggests, I don't care. It's just about time that we're (slowly, but surely) becoming less dependent on foreign oil, and we're cleaning up the skies in the process!

   Posted by Daniel Rubin at 07/08/2005 @ 6:13pm

10. All of the taxi's in Hong Kong were converted to propane about 4 years ago. The improvement in air quality was dramatic within a year of this change. Fares have remained the same and profits for the cab operators have increased. This was clearly a win/win situation for all concerned.

    Posted by gbgary at 07/08/2005 @ 11:58pm

11. Another example of how innovation is stifled by over regulation. There is no reason whatsoever to be issuing "medallions" permitting vehicles to be used as taxis.

    Commercial vehicles of all types operate safely and efficiently in many areas of the nation with nothing more than a required inspection, commercial drivers liscense, and appropriate insurance.

    In this case, this driver and countless others could have switched to hybrids or any other high mileage vehicle the instant they arrived on the market. Instead, NYC's penchant for control of every single niggling detail of commerce has resulted in a this lag in change for no reason other than the delays of regulation.

    Deregulate NY cabs and open up the market to anyone who can meet basic equipment, driver training, and insurance requirements, and you'll have the most efficient taxi fleet possible.

    Posted by MtnGoat at 07/09/2005 @ 12:59am

12. "Better than spending money on huge tax gifts to the already opulently wealthy plutocracy or more unneeded, terrifying military weapons systems, I believe."

    I must have missed where keeping ones property is a "gift" from someone else!

    Posted by MtnGoat at 07/09/2005 @ 01:01am

13. Dear Folks:

    If you'd like to learn more about some of the issues and points you are discussing here, I highly recommend visiting the Union of Concerned Scientist's website, especially the section they have on clean vehicles [ucsusa.org].

    I teach about the environment and find this a great resource for information that's fair and balanced. Furthermore, this organization is at the fore of the battle against the increasing politicization of science.

    HTH,

    Rene'

    Posted by Rene at 07/09/2005 @ 10:17am

14. I have an article that breaks down the stats on the hybrids and overall they aren't a great deal for the environment. Check it out at:

    http://www.voicesofreason.info/2005/05/little-rain-on-prius-parade-as-ardent.html

    Posted by J.S. at 07/09/2005 @ 1:11pm

15. Here is Utah you get a $1500 tax write off and the federal is $2500. Eventualy the math will work however it is the pollution or less pollution that is affected now.

    Posted by alta at 07/09/2005 @ 2:31pm

16. Zero: I'm very much in favor of governments helping people choose green.

    BTW, I love my 2004 Prius -- one of the earliest sold in U.S. I paid the price for pioneering as it broke down on its first cross country trip. Then, it had problems with the Rockies on the second. After some repairs and upgrades, it sailed through the third coast-to-coast trip, including the Rockies, wonderfully and with great gas mileage (up to 50+ mpg in the slower portions).

    Now, we should have a way to charge our hybrid batteries when at home to further reduce dependence on oil. I'm assuming that alternative energy (wind, solar, tidal, geothermal, whatever) really does become a significant fraction of power generation.

    Veggie diesel is also a hope for the near future. If the price at the pump is really around $2.75, it won't be long before it's cheaper than petroleum-based fuels.

    Finally, I'll put in a plug for my favorite -- telecommuting. If a small percentage of today's commuters simply did their work at home (or very locally), then we'd gain enormously in energy savings and air pollution. Why not?

    Posted by adr at 07/11/2005 @ 3:47pm