Late last year Mayor Bloomberg decided New York's legendary fleet of 13,148 yellow cabs should go green, fast. The city mandated that all new taxis going into service after Oct. 1, 2008 must get 25 miles to the gallon, which in effect means, they must be hybrids. The taxi industry has two problems with that, though.

One, with gas prices up the demand for hybrids is up too leaving taxi fleet owners scrambling to find hybrids to buy. Two, taxi owners and drivers say there's a serious question about safety.

On question one, the Mayor has just announced the city has gotten Ford, GM, and Nissan to commit to supplying roughly 300 hybrids a month for taxi buyers which is more than the 210 needed to replenish the fleet. What's interesting about this is who's missing. Toyota. Toyota makes America's most popular hybrids and has refused to commit any vehicles to the taxi program. No Priuses. No Camrys. No Highlanders. Instead the city's cab fleet will be replenished with Ford Escapes (there are 800 of these already in service), Nissan Altimas (a few dozen currently running), and mainly Chevy Malibus (a grand total of 6 are currently in the fleet). And that brings us to question two. 

The taxi fleet owners say these cars aren't really proven safe or reliable for taxi use. All three vehicles are substantially lighter and smaller than the current gas-hogging taxi of choice, the Ford Crown Victoria. But check with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and you find all three are as safe or safer than the Crown Vic both overall and for rear seat passengers. The taxi industry points out that the testing does not include the plexiglass barriers, though, which have been the cause of injuries in the past in vehicles with limited rear leg room.

The industry wants the city to hold off for one more year as auto manufacturers ramp up hybrid production and Ford, in particular, readies a new cab-only vehicle for the US market.

The bottom line is (unless the Mayor changes his mind): Hailing a taxi in New York will get progressively greener over the next few months but could get progressively less safe as well.

http://www.wnbc.com/news/16900091/detail.html