Jana Stroe leans out the window of her yellow Ford Crown Victoria taxicab in front of the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan. 
She loves her car. “I’ve driven a Crown Vic for 20 years,” she says. “This cab is specific to America, specific to New York.”
Along with the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, yellow taxis are an emblem of New York City. There are more than 13,000 taxis licensed in the city that transport 600,000 people each day. At some hours, half of the cars on the streets of Manhattan are taxis, says Deborah Marton of the Design Trust for Public Space, a non-profit group involved with improving the taxi system.
But taxis, unlike Lady Liberty, can change their shape and size. The Checker cabs of black-and-white movies gave way to the Crown Vic. In a few years, New York City taxis again will begin to look completely different.
This year, Ford announced that it will stop making the Crown Victoria, the mainstay of taxi and police fleets in New York and across the country. New York’s Taxi & Limousine Commission has decided to find more than just a replacement for the Crown Vic. By 2014, it will begin replacing every taxi in the city — there are 16 varieties — with a single, ubiquitous model, the nature of which has yet to be decided.
Taxi of Tomorrow
To find the new cab, the Commission is holding a competition called “Taxi of Tomorrow.” Several automakers have submitted detailed proposals.
“We’ve received a number of proposals for electric, plug-in electric, battery-switch electric and compressed natural gas vehicles. We are looking very carefully at each of those technologies,” says New York City Taxi & Limousine Commissioner David Yassky. “It’s the culmination of a growing recognition that the Crown Victoria has rendered great service for New Yorkers and visitors, but we can do better.”
The commission plans to make a decision by the end of the year. Yassky says there are six factors: Comfort, durability, performance and safety, accessibility, fuel efficiency and design. “The goal would be for the new taxicab to complement the urban landscape, for people to say, ‘Yes, that new taxicab belongs in New York City,’ ” he says.
The demise of the Crown Vic does not mean Ford is out of the taxi market. The company will continue to pursue taxi fleet customers for its new model, the Transit Connect, a small, European-style van, says Anne Marie Gattari, a Ford spokeswoman. The Transit Connect has found customers from Southern California to Boston, she says. She declined to say whether Ford has submitted a design to New York.
Cities beyond New York are looking for innovative taxi designs. In Chicago, a city of 6,800 licensed taxis, the loss of the Crown Vic means replacing two-thirds of the fleet. “Taxis are such an important part of our transportation infrastructure,” says Norma Reyes, Chicago’s commissioner of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection. “Accessibility and greening: those two things alone are important.”
For many visitors to New York, their first view of the city is the inside of a cab.
“I think the first thing tourists will notice is (the new taxi’s) stronger design identity,” the Design Trust’s Marton says. “And hopefully the second thing they’ll notice is that it’s more comfortable.”
‘Reluctance to change’
Not all New Yorkers are excited about their city’s Taxi of Tomorrow.
“There is a reluctance to change,” says David Pollack, executive director of the Committee for Taxi Safety, a New York group that represents taxi drivers and owners. “Hopefully there’s no distribution or parts problem, and the (new) car holds up on New York City streets.”
Former New York City traffic commissioner Samuel Schwartz also has concerns. “In London, every taxi looks the same, and they’ve gotten by quite well,” he says. “But you can’t put all your eggs in one basket without expecting a few of them to break.”
For cab owners, the Taxi of Tomorrow is particularly worrisome. “The problem is, the perfect car for me is not the perfect car for my wife, who is 4 foot 11, or for a person who weighs 300 pounds, or for a person who’s in a wheelchair,” says Michael Levine, the owner of hundreds of cabs in Chicago and New York. “You’re forcing everyone to buy one car, and if it turns out to be a lemon, then you’re up the creek.”
No matter which design the commission chooses, taxis will retain their distinctive yellow color and historic function: swarming the streets, lining up at train stations, hotels and airports, carrying passengers uptown, downtown and crosstown in the city that never sleeps.
“I would prefer for the new cab to be a clean car, inside and out,” says Mike Ladson, 42, a security guard from Maplewood, N.J., who works in Manhattan and takes taxis to the Port Authority to catch his bus home. “I like the Crown Vic. I like the minivans. I’m paying for a cab, I want to be comfortable. But all I really want is to get where I’m going.”
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot...
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Design Trust for Public Space. Neil Greenbaum of All Taxi Management is on this committee. Just another example of vertical monopoly. Yet, he doesn’t drive a cab, just orders them around.
What a joke this business is. Our favorite taxi conglomerate is now determining what taxis drivers will drive, how they will drive them, and how much they will pay for them.
As the driver continues to get screwed, but don’t worry folks, our favorite shill, David Pollack will no doubt come to the rescue! HAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh Winky! TWO favorite vertical monopolies: Greenbaum & Sherman. Remember Sherman & his 1500 medalies? No bribes, only making change for drivers, said Shermie’s spokesman in newspaper interview. It’s a tipping society he said, it is the culture. Hmmmm does Shermie tip the Enterprise counterhelp a fast $10 when renting a business car? Or even a $20 maybe, if he is going to leave it at the airport. Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehe. Shermie’s vertical monopoly also includes medalie lease garages, brokerage, lending, management, insurance, and then HOW TO DRIVE A CAB & WHAT TO DRIVE.
What do you call two vertical monopolies who work in concert, and multiply them selves horizontally in various cities, along with their same cloned vertical monopolies? What is the name of that? Perhaps a smothering blanket across the US?
Ford Escape Hybrid and the Ford Transit Connect (hybrid) would be the best choices to replace the Crown Victoria Cabs!
To RadioFree, Ford Transit Connect 4 cyl gasoline engine the best. The hybrid kit must be installed aftermarket by the taxi UPLIFTER known as system destroyer. Go w/Transit Connect 4-cyl gas for a number of years, until hybrids become the norm.
To RadioFree, Escape hybrid getting good reviews.
Chevy HHR 4-cyl poor review – front visibility windshield too low. Taller drivers have to crane their necks to look up to see if there is a traffic light. I haven’t tried it, but I’ll take their word for it. If Chevy adds a little height to the front windshield, it might be a contender.
Design Trust for Public Space. Guess What, Ron Sherman is also on that committee!! Our second favorite cartel. You know, one Village Voice article, “Taxicab Concessions,” referred to: ” . . .. city’s yellow-taxi industry, a multibillion-dollar business long controlled by a handful of powerful oligarchs and regulated by an agency seen as a haven for political-patronage appointees. Are we talking about the Greenbaum & Sherman cartels? Hey, winky?
The Taxi Big bosses have cabbies by the balls!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=159216125164
Cabster, if one wants to acess your link, they must identify themselves, and have facebook password. For those who prefer to surf anonymously, would you be able to include the revelant text in a comment on this website?
Hello all!
I see my name has been referenced here so i will respond. Look, it has been well documented here that Our Favorite Taxi Conglomerate (Cartel?) of Greenbaum, Sherman, and their shills (Pollack, et al) controls every aspect of this business.
It is their money and weight being thrown around NYC that lets them do whatever they want. Look at all the medallions owned by them, garages, repair shops, meter shops, etc. Look at all the businesses and corporations where they appear on the board of directors. Look at their shills that appear in their ads and on the pages of Taxi Insider as pretending to care for you, the driver.
As far as Yassky goes, he is nothing more than shill for all of them. They all have him in their pocket. The only thing Yassky does with impunity is revoke licenses of drivers to make it look like he is doing something.
Unless you are a private owner of a medallion and a taxi, you are at their mercy and they know it.
As we have further evidence of what a shill David Pollack is and how he is in the pockets of Our Favorite Taxi Conglomerate. Right from the pages of Taxi Insider.
[img]http://www.yellowcabnyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ti0710_Page_01.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.yellowcabnyc.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/ti0710_Page_30.jpg[/img]
I’ve asked and asked, Executive Committee for Taxi Safety, but under what entity is this committee in the taxi business flow chart, does it come under TLC or his own magazine? Executive Committee of WHAT? for taxi safety?
Thanks, Winky, for those pictures. Nice to see the gloating face of Neil Greenbaum, one of our favorite taxi conglomerates.
As if further proof was necessary that this whole business is run buy a small group of people who control everything and have shills like David Pollack honoring them really shows how the driver is treated in all of this.
How dare Mr. Pollack come on this site and post his nonsense. He is their pockets, always has and always will be. The photographs are evidence of that.
You still think he cares about you, the driver?
“Corner” Piper Preview: By Jan/Feb we expect Grumman Aircraft bid on NYC’s new WA-TAXI-COPTER. I am so ‘excited’ by this quintessential new taxi-copter taking NYC into the future. Grumman will charge $1.5 million for each corporate wa-taxi-copter of the future; private owners will only need pay $1.25 million for each wa-taxi-copter of the future. Like a giant EAGLE it will swoop down to pick up the wheel-chair rider by 4 special rings and deposit the WCR at the desired destination, without holding up a lane of travel. Of course the new wa-taxi-copter will have a much higher speed to destination, so a little loss of time won’t be so harsh on cabbies’ pay. It also “excites” me to announce that 6 months or so after the start of this program, all wa-taxi-copter fares will start at $250. Of course, each cabbie will have to obtain a heli flying license!!! And all of this will not cost fleet garages or private owners one small DIME, no siree, it will be paid for by – GUESS – who pays for the entire NYC cab business delivery? THOSE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL CABBIES!!!! [still looking for a decent place to tinkle].
Can only speak for myself, but a high percentage of costs have not only doubled and tripled, but quadrupled, while earnings stay the same. To have regulators take more & more of our pay is too much of a squeeze. Food prices, vehicle maintenance prices, every purchase is doubled, tripled, & quadrupled and more. Vehicles designed for more & more costly maintenance. Not only cabbies, but in all walks of life. The POWERFUL raise prices on REQUIRED buys, insurance, and the like. Everyday guy is being squeezed from every direction. How can we survive?
The ‘exciting’ wca-taxi-copters will require special gas obtained only at JFK & LaGuardia special wca-taxi-copter pumps . . . . . at least until they become electricially powered thru the card systems’ wireless bounced off satellites. Otherwise they wouldl all be strangled by their own cords . . . ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha – The Greenbaum & Sherman cartels will be the designated electrical power providers – those trillionaires-to-be!!!!! Keep smiling like your own precious Bloomberg appointed Commish Yassky.
Wonder if anyone knows whether the high riding Ford Escape Hybrid has a tendency to catch on fire if rear-ended, meaning would the nose of a medium- or small-sized vehicle go under and somehow scrape off the fuel tank? Not sure which state, but a tow-truck rear-ended a Honda Civic which caught immediately on fire – the cable news reported the Honda Civic driver was unable to get out of the vehicle, and died. The report did not explain why, perhaps the Honda Civic had another car in front of it, but they both should have been pushed, and why Civic driver trapped. Maybe the harsh hit of the tow truck squeezed the frame & jammed the doors & windows. If anyone has any comments about the safety of the gas tank of the high-riding Escape, I’d like to hear it. Also, we need to know about the low riding Ford Transit Connect, how is its gas-tank shielded, and where is it located.
Yes indeed, Yellow Cab taxis are the staple of New York City. When I think of New York, the first thing that comes to mind is Yellow Cab taxis, Times Square and the Statue of Liberty.
I really respect Yellow cabbies. They have a demanding job that requires a great deal of patience. Really cool article.
We are sick of the huge cartels, the NYC taxi cartels, the nationwide credit card banker cartels, those who are using TERRORIST FEAR to reap riches and take control of America beyond belief, not just billions, now it is trillions. Every time something new is announced, like new smart cell phone which if it is going to pay for a purchase when held near slider or gadget, it is going to contain your FINANCIAL IDENTITY AND INFORMATION in it. There U are walking around with your whole life identity, pictures, finances, programmed, by force, into your cell phone linked to your home computer, which is not protected by law against invasion by either private ‘bank’ hackers or the government itself. Land phones are protected, so they are being taken out day by day, disappearing from our streets. So when smart cell phone announced, and causes more and more hair bristling on Americans who hear what it is going to do, the commercials or advertisements ARE FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY by the uncovering of a terrorist plot in some place half across the globe, supported by no evidence, if there is any. So many media announcements of ‘terrorist plot uncovered,’ there is not ENOUGH personnel in the USA to analyze it. Media pops them out, and American sheep must accept it as truth. But we have always had our own home-grown kooks, like the Army psychologist, the recent Times Sq. ineffective guy. Every country always has had its home-grown terrorists, the Texas tower, and ‘going postal,’ and the recent disgruntled killer employees. All these invasive technologies being pushed upon worker-bee Americans to make MONEY MONEY MONEY. The more money the new CARTELS can take from the old telephone companies, the land-lines, the more MONEY & control these slippery cartels take. You knew where the old phone companies were, you could put your finger on them. I am sick of an ever-tightening noose being placed on every American, in specific the worker-bees, using the ARAB TERRORIST threat card, especially when we see these cartels not only making fortunes in the billions and trillions, but amassing power and control. Finally, you have to say, well we are told everyday the American Jews are protecting us from the Arabs, and that’s why we need invasive technology and associated power & control, BUT WHO IS GOING TO PROTECT AMERICA FROM THOSE SAME JEWS? Who bought out Times & Newsweek which now have circulations in the 100,000 range across America that used to have millions in circulation? All news coming from the smart cell phones? And who is popping it out? Can you put a finger on them? They are elusive and provide no evidence of truth. We are sick of being victimized, fleeced, and controlled more and more everyday by money-grubbing cartels using whatever threats they can think of to succeed in their power & money mission. Using the terror card, the tax card, any card they can think of. What kind of life are Americans looking foward to when they are totally puppets ruled daily by the cartels who will just take the money out of your pay and your accounts when they want it. Don’t show up at work, criticize cartels, don’t eat – the card and smart phone have all Americans inside them. Total control. But no one knows how to fight it. As long as Americans are still alive, they suffer it; and no lessons have been learned from the holocaust. The rich cartels are just another holocaust that Americans will accept until they literally die – they are so rich they operate by buying out the environment until the target is totally drained of money and subject to their sole control.
The popinjay piper forgot to mention COST EFFICIENCY in choosing a quintessential cab for New York City. Of course, a cabbies’ earning power is unlimited, if he has to give more earnings from his pay to pay for the newest bells & whistles spotlight vehicle for Bloomberg to hold the media moment. There is no end to what a cabbie can earn, if he just ties himself into the seat so he won’t fall over, to support Bloomberg’s spotlight moments. Here’s what popinjay piper said: “The commission plans to make a decision by the end of the year. Yassky says there are six factors: Comfort, durability, performance and safety, accessibility, fuel efficiency and design.” No factor of cost of the quintessential chosen new taxi vehicle, because, yeehah, you pick it out, cabbie will work twice as hard to pay for it. The whole NYC taxi business is run on the earnings of the poor cabbie! You see, the TLC opinion of the lowly cabbie slave is NOT HIDDEN, it is right there in print – and the implication is TAKE THAT, CABBIE!
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