Today, as I returned from the great Midwest to NYC, and was told, “all the way at the end, 63,” I expected the come to the usual Ford Crown Vic or Ford Escape. To my interest, a 2011-2012 Lincoln MKZ hybrid pulled up. According to the driver, it’s the only one in all of New York City. The city has been making an effort to switch all cars over to hybrids, so that part was no surprise. The driver said that, compared to about a $40 expense on 100 miles in the Crown Vic, he was now only paying about $10 for 100 miles in the MKZ. Not too shabby, right?
The rear of the taxi wasn’t really too different from of the cars. Aside from a few more chrome accents, you had the typical one sheet of canvas as a back seat, taxi TV, and scuffed up backs of the front seat. There was no partition, however, in an effort to save space. One thing I did notice was the smooth ride. Almost all taxis shake, rattle and roll, but the MKZ was nice and quiet. Add that to the friendly driver, and you could do a lot worse than the only Lincoln that ain’t a town car.
Read more at: http://www.complex.com/rides/2012/12/the-only-lincoln-mkz-hybrid-taxi-in-nyc
How many today’s taxi drivers can name which books are written by Alexander Dumas and which one by Victor Hugo. 30 years ago the question would sound which drivers don”t know who wrote what. Many cities around the world don’t allow uneducated people on their territory. It degrades the value of a civilized place ,unfortunetly, this is what happens to New York .More and more people with very little understanding of what the world culture means are here already. It shows in so many different ways,one of them is driving.Sometimes it feels that you are in a savage land,judging by the way people handle their cars.
What is the big deal about this Lincoln MKZ taxi? Where have you been? There are 3 beautiful Mercedes-Benz taxis that are running in NYC streets. I had a dream like ride in one of them. A state of the art car. Frankly, i am looking for that MB taxi to come along and pick me up again and again. Thank you Mr. Mercedes taxi for a Limmousine ride you gave me.
I prefer Crown Vics. This crap car, it doesn’t look bad might i add.
Crown Victoria’s are the best. It is a shame that non-American car companies are allowed to be used as taxi’s these days. Those Nissan, Toyota, etc taxi’s look out of place. How about using the Taurus and forget about that ugly Nissan NV-200
I saw this cab yesterday. I took a bad picture but needed to take it since this was the first Lincoln NYC taxi I ever saw. Town Car’s are all over the place, but they are livery cabs. I also saw the Mercedes-Benz ML350 BlueTEC taxi a couple a weeks ago.
But I do have to say the Ford Crown Victoria was and still is the best cab in NYC, and in my opinion, the Chevrolet Caprice coming in second. The Crown Vic is like London’s taxi. Everyone, Americans and foreigners thinks Crown Vic when you say NYC taxi. Toys sold to tourists are Crown Vic’s.
And now with Führer Bloomberg and this Taxi of Tomorrow thing, he picks a Nissan? And a ugly one at that. That is a total f*ck you to America and to NYC having a Japanese car as a taxi representing the City that is what America is about. Every person here is different. This is the melting pot of America. It does sound like I am contradicting myself, but I think a taxi for NYC should be an American car. The Transit Connect would be a perfect choice and though not built in America it is a Ford, an American car. And I am sure Ford could convert a plant here to produce more Transit Connect’s because they are all over the 5 boroughs.
It all about saving money on gas and when you have a fleet of cars and you need to replace them you have to look and see what company gives you better insentives