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Getting on the Road to Cleaner Transit
New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg has an ambitious plan for this city of 9+ million people: To reduce carbon emissions (linked to global warming and otherwise causing damage to the environment) by over 30% by the year 2030. The Mayor’s PlanNYC was created as “an environmental roadmap designed to make New York City efficient and sustainable in the 21st Century.”

To that end, the city has been working to green-up what’s currently on the road, starting with the worst culprits: The Taxi and Limousine Commission will now require the more than 23,000 yellow and black regulated cars in New York City to be more fuel efficient.

As of May 2007 all new taxis have to meet emissions and mileage standards. Besides making the yellow cab brigade entirely green within five years, the city will require that all new vehicles get a minimum of 30 miles per gallon and must be hybrid. Taxis will go entirely hybrid by 2012. Hybrid vehicles run on gasoline and electricity, emitting less exhaust and achieving higher gas mileage per gallon. Among the new hybrid cabs in use are the Ford Escape which gets 36 miles per gallon. Contrast that with the old standby Ford Crown Victoria, which gets about 14 mpg. In addition to yellow cabs, all new black service cars must have a minimum city driving rating of 30 mpg by January 1, 2010. To meet the new requirements, car companies will likely purchase smaller hybrid cars as well.

City officials said the new standards, when fully implemented, are expected to reduce carbon emissions by more than 200,000 tons per year.

Public transit itself is a good idea for the environment. A trip on the subway or bus uses far less energy than an auto trip, producing less environmentally damaging carbon dioxide. New York City Transit has the largest hybrid-electric bus fleet in North America. By the end of 2008, the hybrid fleet will reach nearly 700 buses. Hybrid bus technology—which uses a battery and an electric motor, which generates less carbon dioxide—will be cutting the costs of fuel economy and contributing to reduced emissions.