Ford’s got a customized Transit Connect running compressed natural gas or LPG for taxi fleets across the country — including New York City.
The Taxi version’s the one with more upside potential for Ford. With the ubiquitous Crown Victoria nearing the end of its long and illustrious taxi career, something will have to replace it — especially given the NYC TLC has put out a new bid for a replacement product.
Enter the Transit Connect Taxi. It’s the standard Transit Connect passenger version outfitted for taxi duty with 3 inches of additional leg room in the back, an integrated fare tracking system, a specialized version of the Ford Works Solutions system up front, and a combined information and entertainment and fare collecting system in the back. The Taxi is also being shown with the Compressed Natural Gas system fitted to the vehicle. It includes modified engine controls and fuel delivery system as well as a tank behind the passenger seat. There’s also the option of LPG and both systems can be had on a non-Taxi Transit Connect, if you place a big enough commercial order.
Ford spokespeople are clear “the New York City taxi business is very important to us” but they’re also telling us that they’re still examining the bid by New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) for the next-generation taxi cabs. But, that said, for the moment we’re being told that the Transit Connect taxi you see above stands a damn good shot at being their candidate to replace the ol’ and busted Crown Vic. So although it’s not yet Ford’s final choice, they frankly don’t have any other choices to throw down with.
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
The Asphalt Blogger.com 02.10.10 at 9:13 am
This looks like a really nice vehicle. Still the only complaint I would have is it only has seating for 3…..
nyc cabbie 02.11.10 at 3:19 am
oh god this is one ugly vehicle i hope i dont have to drive this one.
The Asphalt Blogger.com 02.11.10 at 8:26 am
No disrespect NYC Cabbie, but do you drive a vehicle to look good in it or do you drive it to make a living in it? It’s not about how cool we look in a cab, it’s about functionality. Will the vehicle serve it’s purpose and allow YOU to do your job and make an acceptable living from it. Be good to yourself.
Chip Stern 02.12.10 at 4:53 am
Swell, an “information and entertainment” system.
And those nice high headrest that take away like 30% of you rear view vision.
Gee, do you suppose the TLC will insist on some of those Adolph Eichman Memorial War Crimes Tribunal pleixglass CAGES, with which to encase us, and dangerously compromise or peripheral vision, the patronizing motherfuckers. Let alone seal off another 30-35% of our rear view vision.
DANGEROUS, don’t you get it.
RUDY 02.13.10 at 11:08 am
To me this taxi of tomorrow is OK ….IF and only if FORD is doing a verry good test on it.like every new car we gone a havelot of hadacke. a real test is when you drive 24/7 in manhattan. whith natural gas nothing wrong if used properly. european drivers use nat. gas for decades no problem a all. the problem is refueling.if the owner of the gas station on HOUSTON AND LAFAYETTE IS NOT DOING SOME UPDATES ON HIS STATION ,we gone a change shifts somewhere else and he is loosing money.
RUDY 02.13.10 at 11:22 am
TAXI OF TOMORROW ; FORD CROWN VICTORIA-HYBRID!!!!!!!! GUYS OUTHERE BE ONEST TO YOURSELF. CROWN VIC. IS SAFE:YES IS CHEAP TO MAINTAIN: YES IS COMFORTABLE: YES THE ONLY PROBLEM IS MILES/ GALLON ,IF FORD SOLVE THIS PROBLEM CRWN VIC. IS THE BEST ….TAXI OF THE FUTURE!!!!! SOME THINKS HASE TO BE FIXED LIKE THE SEATS, SPECIALY THE DRIVER SEAT IT IS KILLING TO DRIVE 12 HOURS IN THIS SEATS. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
lwilliama 02.13.10 at 11:48 am
That’s an excellent point RUDY. Why should they keep looking for “The Taxi of Tomorrow”. The taxi that we have been using all along is a workhorse, and it is very reliable. Instead of coming up with a totally new model, they should find a way to make the Vic more fuel efficient.
Look at what happened to Toyota with all the recalls. Anytime you have a car that is overly dependant on a computerized system, there are bound to be glitches and electrial issues. You couldn’t pay me to get into one of those Prius cabs now.
RUDY 02.13.10 at 1:09 pm
THANK U IWILLIAMA!!! WE DON”T NEED NEW CONCEPT CARS, IT TAKES AT LEAST 5-6 YEARS TILL IT WORKS…….LIVE OUR ,,QUEEN VIC,, HOW SHE LOOKS ,JUST MAKE HER MORE FUEL EFFICIENT. I AM SURE FORD CAN DO THAT. WE PROUD OF FORD IT”S -MADE IN AMERICA- AND FORD, PLEASE HELP US ,TRY TO MAKE CROWN VIC HYBRID!!!!! WAIT FOR YOUR COMMENT……RUDY [PROUD TO BE A NY CITY CAB DRIVER]
Charles T 02.13.10 at 10:18 pm
They stopped making Ford C Vic long-body I was told by a cab driver that seemed savvy, knowing what he was talking about. Is that true? Are they still making the regular FCV? The Mercury Grand Marquis is really an excellent car, obviously they are making that one. It was a really good Idea Rudy and Iwilliama to suggest that Ford start making these vehicles with 6 cylindar engine, flex-fuel. Some cities have gone overboard with Camry hybrids, have they been racing out of controll? You know, for years and years suitability for a taxi had to do with big size, that’s what the regulators wanted. Suddenly, you can place in service an Altima Hybrid, and some cities are even putting on Ford Fusions. With 13,000+ taxis in NYC, it does seem a good idea to cut the emissions, and the heat that those 5.7 interceptors are putting out all over the city in the summer. However, putting the GPS and credit card advertising leech systems in NYC taxis has driven emissions up. Why? Because these systems are on 24/7. If a taxi is being repaired or misses a 12-hour shift for some reason, or even 2 days, well the system does NOT TURN OFF, it lies quiet and uses power from the battery. Of course the greedy credit / debit card advertising system liars tell you it uses an infinitesimal amount of power; but once the taxi doesn’t start once, the taxi driver is NOT GOING TO SHUT IF OFF AT ALL DURING THE ENTIRE SHIFT. No matter where the taxi stand is. It is going to be running, and if it is a FCV it is using a lot of gas and giving out more emissions than ever. If it is a hybrid, say Escape or Altima, I don’t know how much emisions it has if it is running all shift long. But for sure I’m not getting in a Ford Transit Connect.
Charles T 02.13.10 at 10:30 pm
A cab driver I know said he has had about $450 in scam loss in just a couple of months. I am a neighborhood player so I don’t have anything near that, I have about $100 scam loss as the scam fares are running through de-magnetized one-time credit or debit cards they got as gifts from the supermarket or somewhere. They go to a store where the de-magnetizer square sign says keep credit cards away from this. Once de-magnetized the scammer runs it through the slider and nothing happens or it gets an invalid, or try again. Then the scam fare says well your machine doesn’t work, see you later. This seems to have caught on. Maybe sometimes they are just running their work entry pass card through. A cab driver who was beside my cab says your passenger was not even running the metal strip into the slider. They know where the dead spots are, they say pull up here, just a little further, and voila card doesn’t work. There is one particular cab stand where the people in one large corporation nearby are obviously talking about scamming with each other, because nearly every loss I have had has come from that stand. Usually if it is under $10, I just say take a free ride. Good bye. I know they are scamming. They say they are going to a main thoroughfare and then guide you 1/2 way down an alley where no cell phone would work. These advertising credit card systems are leeches on the taxi driver. Why was GPS necessary, who is going to watch 13,150 taxis all day and where they go? Not only that, taxi driving is competitive, people learn how to make their money, who is the “corrupt” individual scanning the GPS systems and the daily fare log credit card or just cash fare (that’s a first in America, a third party allowed to watch, collect, and retain data on your cash register), well those cabbies who have learned how to do well over the years, takes 15 years, suddenly the “corrupt” GPS invaders know where the best money is, and the next day your favorite places have become 50-taxi stands!!! Goodbye competitive driving. They will move the stand away from that spot, and move their relatives limousines in. How much scam loss are other taxi drivers suffering?
Charles T 02.13.10 at 10:35 pm
When Schenkman left, they sort of wrote a eulogy, his life experience, his education and where he was going. I wish they’d do that because I wonder how Matthew Daus was qualified by experience for his job as chairman of the TLC. Where his education was. And so forth. I’d also like to know how many of the 3150 medallions are owned by large fleet garages, I saw one article that placed half of them with large fleet garages, and then another article yet that said only 35% of them are owned by large fleet garages. Neither of these seem right to me. Anyone know the straight scoop from Guadalupe?
CreditCardCabbie 02.13.10 at 11:19 pm
DR. Gary N. like one of the best public educators on the radio 91.5 FM (weekdays 12:00-12:53 PM) and a lot of cabbies listen to it, but on OUR website Charles T. is one of the best commentators, to educate fellow cabdrivers! We all should share, post and comment because we are all part of it to empower each other to build a superior taxi industry, and better living standard, not just for the leading elites!
Jose 02.14.10 at 11:15 am
He did not have any education. He was a political hack named by a mayor long gone. Look at this record: 1050 medallions more in the street, L partitions who are very dangerous for drivers, 5% robery fro drivers coming from credit cards transsactions, He kept his big mouth shut when this imbecil ignorant governor ansd state senate an assembly pushed the 50 cents MTA tax. Wages going down dramatically for drivers. That is his record that He leaves after 11 years of raining in the TLC. I hope and wish the worse for him and I do not have to hide my name and my hack number. I am driving 23 years, my name is Jose and my hack number is 422928. You all drivers do the same, do not be afraid to give your opinion and say what You think loud and clear, please. We are americans and the last think We should br afraid is to loose our fredom even in NYC. Jose
winky 02.14.10 at 12:22 pm
He’s nothing more than a piece of shit hack
Charles T 02.14.10 at 7:04 pm
How much credit card scam, losing the whole fare? I’ve talked to some cabbies that say in addition to the 5% taken from the driver they are sliding their employee cards, old health club cards and then saying your machine doesn’t work, we’re leaving. And then do not pay. Of course you cannot stop driving and earning while you chase that loss down. How much is the scam loss on the credit cards.
No education at all? Must have had something after high school, maybe not.
Charles T 02.14.10 at 7:07 pm
Some cities take 5% or 6% and give the fleet garages those $almost billionaires 1% of every credit card job done by one of their rental cabs, and give another 1 percent to the fleet garage personnel maintaining the credit card advertising systems. They did this so the fleet rental garages would “go along” and help out with making it mandatory. Because if the fleet garages said no, it would have been a big fight. Why say no when you are taking more money than ever from the cabbie driver’s hands?
Charles T 02.14.10 at 7:09 pm
If Daus held his job two terms starting September I forgot which day 2001, then he was appointed by Rudy Giuliano because what day did Bloomberg take over from Giuliani? Was he appointed by Giuliani or Blooomberg? It is important to know all of their education background.
Charles T 02.14.10 at 7:16 pm
Soon as Bermuda cabs were run through this same course of fire (CC GPS Computer dispatch) they were banned from meeting cruise ships. Once the Premier of Bermuda found out that transportation could bring SUCH BIG ADVERTISING BUCKS, he signed on (and people said he was given a piece of the credit card advertising computer dispatch technical company installed by force in the Bermuda cabs. By the way, all Bermuda cabs are owned by the parties that drive them, and no dispatch associations own any of them.
They say the premier was given a piece of the company, but likely it was a percentage of the credit card take, and perhaps even a percentage of the advertising take.
Once the GPS installed with the credit cards it can satisfy a wide range of use. Say a ban line was place in it, it would alert the regulators or police if a taxi cab dropped off at the cruise lines and then was quick enough to take a fare out, and probably the cabbie would be arrested.
Likely the connected politicians relatives would get jobs driving those shuttle buses with advertising they are now having pick up at the cruise lines.
In other words once NYC yellow cabs are all installed, and they are all installed, and giving the 50 cents to the MTA. Well the MTA is not a state function and why would the governor get the 50 cents or put his part in it? Metropolitan Transit Authority is it not? Or maybe it is a state function, I am not sure. Other cabbies don’t seem to know either.
Now NYC yellows are all installed with CC GPS Computer Dispatch, It is likely they will be banned from certain work, certain locations, and their GPS would alert the regulators so they can be arrested, or just their meters shut down if they do not abide. Look for certain hotels, certain T stops, certain train stations, certain airport terminals, certain airports, NYC yellows being banned, but black cars being able to have a cab stand near malls and other locations from which they are dispatched by their far away dispatchers. Of course, would any black car confronted by scads of mall shoppers or people living in the area, dare to take a fare while waiting to be dispatched? He he he he
Charles T 02.15.10 at 7:55 pm
Perhaps they were educated at the Bourget Royale training program (Burger King). He he he he Cutting pizza one day, next day taxi mechanic expert. he he he he
Sean 02.17.10 at 10:26 pm
The Ford Transit is the perfect NYC cab for a lot of reasons. It’s efficient and versatile (just think of NYCers with disabilities, shopping trips, lots of airport luggage, large groups For NYCers). Also the Transit will be imported from Turkey until Ford has a good reason to build them here in the states. As Ford continues to globalize its product lineup, this just may give the company the reason it needs to build the Transit right here in America. How great would it be for NYC alone to drive this growth?
Chip Stern 02.18.10 at 4:53 pm
Sean,
* The “new” cab is aerodynamically absurd…the shape alone guarantees decreased efficency and fuel mileage.
* Ford’s mileage claims are hogwash: the claim 27-17 for the Crown Vics…13-10 is more like it.
* It has seriously compromised sight lines, which make it very dangerous for the driver and passengers, especially with high head rests in the back seat, as all as the visioin lost my partitions, the GPS/TV Screen system and the credit card swiper.
* These “box cars” do not shoulder well, a or have a heavy enough chassis and optimized center of gravity, so if the driver turns too hard, there is a danger of flipping over.
* One of the biggest problems facing cab drivers is that we are legally (insurance regulations) constrained from picking up more than four passengers. The old Checkers were box cars, too, but at the very least you could legally pick up six passengers. It is always a hassle to explain to people –WHO DO NOT GIVE A SHIT–that it is illegal to pick up more than four. Families with multiple children? WHat are we supposed to do?
* How does Ford propose to fuel this vehicle? Compressed natural gas? That is actually a very good idea, in terms of potential efficnecy and emissions control. But where do you fuel up? Hello!
* Again, the emphasis on information/entertainment systems is utterly misplaced. This is not Foxwoods Fucking Casino, it is a TAXI CAB. The cab driver is supposed to communicate with his passengers, and the passengers are supposed to look out the windows, not zone away like a captive audience on some stupid infomercials (99 44/100% of NYC passengers loathe the TAXI TV bullshit). How about maximizing the ergonomic qualities of the driver’s seat for crying out loud, considering how many drivers (and cops suffer from this too) end up with back spasms and sciatica from these uncomfortable and wrenching seats.
IN SHORT, your enthusiasm for the new FORD is seriously misplaced.
Taxi of Tomorrow?
Taxi of Everlasting Sorrow is more like it.
As for the pride of encouraging FORD to produce in this country. Did you ever drive a Ford Escape? Did you ever have its brakes fail or steering wheel lock up or stall out in the middle of the street?
Made in Turkey? Made LIKE turkeys is closer to the truth.
Fed Up 02.18.10 at 9:54 pm
I think that instead of talking about the taxi of tomorrow we should make suggestions for the TLC of tomorrow: Chip, you’re a hero…we need more voices like yours…..We need someone like you on the top..I vote to make you the next TLC chairman!!!!
Who else is in favor?
The Asphalt Blogger.com 02.22.10 at 9:58 am
Chip, you bring some very valid points to the table. And I am not posting this out of disrespect, but do you have the expertise in areodynamics? I will conceed that you are much more familiar than I am when it comes to driving a cab in NYC. I do it in Indianapolis so the demographics/traffic is totally different. Here the chance of being robbed is very minisucle to what NYC Hacks face on a daily basis. We do not have cages in our cabs. We can legally transport up to 7 passengers in some vehicles, 6 or 4 in other vehicles.
With respect to Charles T comments regarding the GPS/Credit Card issue, I would just note areas that don’t have good signal coverage and make them swipe it somewhere where you can get a response on the card. Here in Indy, I have a customer that trys to pay with her credit card in a bad coverage area. I got here again one night and made her pay me for the previous fare and told her that I could either run the card in the coverage area and get approval on it before hand or she could pay cash. She paid cash from then on. Y’all be good to yourselves.
Charles T 02.22.10 at 7:43 pm
To: the asphalt-blogger. Yeah coverage areas and no coverage areas. Unfortunately there are some real slimey riders, and they are the upscale ones too. As I said, they give an address with all the satellite access in the world, and then say go this way, that way, and the plan is to intersect it by using a narrow alley with tall buildings, and not only that the alley ends at a train point, where you know there are train electronics interference. The lady says anywhere along here as we start in the alley, where there is a border of parallel parked cars and nowhere to dart to the side, then says RIGHT HERE. Of course this is the dead spot as she well knows, and with cars behind me, I know she thinks she is getting a skate. So I went to the corner and turned, and then she was sliding another card, but it was obviously that was not her game, because she was sliding it, angry, at the speed of light back and forth, and I thought this ain’t going to work either, suddenly it did. These thiefs, I say no tip please, and do not put any tip in. I say, I don’t like credit cards and I don’t want any tips either. You know she was only going to throw $1.25 on a $16 fare, because she was trying not to pay it at all.
However, the de-magnitized card bunch who are sliding their cards with all the reaction of a piece of paper, these are the smart ones who realize their dead gift cards and old ATM cards, de-magnitized, will not get a reaction on the slider, and there is no point calling the police to tell them someone just jumped out of the cab. No point at all. The scam loss is adding up. I think credit cards are optional in Las Vegas at the option of the driver, and I think that is the way it has to be.
Charles T 02.22.10 at 7:49 pm
To Asphalt blogger: This transit natural gas van only has seating for three and no third seat in the back to put down if no luggage? A loser. I will not ride in or derive anything with compressed natural gas.
Charles T 02.22.10 at 7:57 pm
Re share a cab – would an airline pilot go for this? We need MORE concentrtion than an airline pilot. Yet we are forced to be the worlds accountant for our professional customers who need to keep their accounts straight. It is easier for them, but out of $500 week what about losing $75 leaving just $425 the price for helping the rich lawyers and rich businessmen do their accounting! It takes time to process credit cards too.
Who has been selected to be the ‘SPECIAL CABS’ OPERATING along a bus route offering share-ai-cab? So with all these people in the cab, and the meters keeping the fares straight, some pay cash, some pay credit card, this is a lot of work that distracts from the complete concentration needed to operate a taxi safely for 12 hours. No airline pilot would do that during his “off time” flying a plane for 3, 4, or 6 hours. I would think it might be a flop, personally I do not want someone off the street, no matter how good they look, sitting in the taxi next to me. Every one being picked up will want to sit in the front passenger seat, obstructing the driver’s good safety view through the front windshield.
Good they are trying it, and obviously not every taxi can be a “special cab.” As one commentator said, all of these “dreamy” ideas are coined by people like Bloomberg and Daus who don’t drive a taxi. It seems there is no amount of extraneous jobs to force on a cabbie, who is already full up on the job with just getting the person from A to B the best way.
Taxi regulators across the USA are asking for trouble.
Charles T 02.22.10 at 8:00 pm
no amount? meant there is no limit to the amount of extraneous jobs regulators dream up and force on a cabbie, who is already full up on the job with just getting the person safely from point A to B the best way. Taxi regulators across the USA are asking for trouble.
Charles T 02.22.10 at 8:06 pm
You know, getting the rider from A to B safely, timely, by the best route has taken a BACK SEAT to all of this FOLDERAL dreamed up by taxi regulators. Picking people up, share-a-cab, de-magnitized cards and credit card scam loss, keeping all electronics such as cell phones out of cabs, all these rules and fines, and regulator spies driving around and standing around undercover operatives at popular taxi stands, this all detracts from a calm cabbie, saying hello, and again, getting the ride from A to B safely, timely, by the best route, how can the driver be calm and say hello, or anything else when they are thinking this “bad rider” is going to take me for the fare at the end of the ride. You can almost see it in their faces. In fact, the taxi regulators are keeping the cabbies in STRESS, keeping day drivers awake at night, and keeping night drivers awake during the day. When is it going to end? Never.
Charles T 02.22.10 at 8:10 pm
It is my forecast that TLC plans to introduce “dispatched taxis” to NYC. Now that the credit card GPS systems are in, it wouldn’t surprise me that the city would be divided into zones and the zone where you rent your cab will be dispatched by the biggest rental garage there, say a 400 cab rental garage, or even larger or smaller. And if you are caught picking up outside your operational zone, you will be fined or in some type of trouble. Any taxi dispatched to a job has lost time in going to the job, waiting, for the job, and then getting another dispatched job. There is an UNSAFE URGENCY about getting to a dispatched job before it is gone. Cabbies report that GPS dispatch systems are flush and rife with “no go’s.”
Charles T 02.22.10 at 8:12 pm
I’d like to see a picture of the Toyota Minivan. No Ford connect for me. I suppose to pay for this blog, Ford donates ad money, or money for you to show their Transit Connect? In any event, I’d like to see the same pictures and interior shots of the Toyota Minivan. Is there any 4 cylinder mini van without being hybrid? Something a little larger than Chevy HHR?
Charles T 02.22.10 at 8:16 pm
What is the status of 6 JFK dispatchers? I went to one informational website about it and it said that these dispatchers, whose names were listed, if found guilty (and likely they will be if they were caught in a sting) COULD GET UP TO 2 YEARS IN JAIL FOR COMMERCIAL BRIBERY. So what is their status. That is why I came on line tonight, to see what is there status, how is the indictment and conviction process coming along?
You know it seems around the US that all the airport dispatchers fall into the same game, and I’ve never heard of one going to jail, not even one losing his job. Some say, they disappear for a while, until they think cabbies have forgotten and there are are again, with their unrepentant face staring at you, and still dispatching. Why is it that only the cabbie is watched and punished, and everyone else in the industry, regulator, or taxi rental garage get away with murder?
Charles T 02.22.10 at 8:19 pm
To Hotel Doorman. On your days off, do you become your brother-in-law behind the hotel sitting in the black Lincoln? And does your brother-in-law come around front to fill in for you, and give you your airport jobs or other lucrative jobs?
Doesn’t every hotel employee in the front desk area of every hotel have a brother or sister who drives a shiny black Ford Crown Victoria, who knows when to show up to get the guests who have asked the front desk how they will get to this or that destination at a certain time?