Mayor vows all hybrid taxis by 2012

By 2012, Mayor Michael Bloomberg vowed all of the taxicabs in New York City would be hybrid vehicles as part of his PlaNYC2030 vision for the city’s future.
“In PlaNYC2030, we set aggressive goals for the taxicab industry and today we’re going to begin meeting those goals,” Bloomberg said. “Implementing tougher standards for the more than 13,000 taxis in this city will provide the same clean air benefits as removing 32,000 privately-owned cars from our streets, which will significantly reduce the air pollution that causes childhood asthma.”
Bloomberg’s plan, which calls for staggered implementation of the hybrid vehicles into the fleet throughout the next four years - with nearly 11,000 of the 13,000 coming during 2009 and 2010. In addition, Bloomberg touted the hybrid vehicles capability of decreasing fuel costs by an average of $10,000 per year.
“We expect these new standards will save 22 million gallons of fuel in the first year, and that is only the beginning of what we will be able to accomplish,” said Taxi and Limousine (TLC) Commissioner Matthew Daus.
Many city leaders including City Councilmember John Liu, who is chair of the council’s transportation committee, praised Bloomberg’s plan, but Liu also urged the mayor to go further and put all of the city’s passenger vehicles on a similar timetable for conversion.
However, Michael Harris, campaign coordinator for the Disabled Riders Coalition, the tri-state area’s only disability advocacy group, focused solely on transportation issues, blasted Bloomberg’s plan saying that only 100 of the 13,000 taxis are accessible.
Harris said in a statement. “There is currently no accessible, hybrid vehicle available on the market, let alone one approved by the TLC and the mayor’s announcement will only serve to encourage taxi owners to purchase vehicles that are not accessible to persons with disabilities,” Harris said in a statement.