Mayor Blumberg wants to make new law requiring all yellow cabs operating in NYC (all 17,000 of them) to be Hybrid by 2012. There are some hybrid taxi cabs already operating in the city, but requiring it by law would probably be the first. Outside of hybrid SUV's, TCH would be the most suitable as a taxi cab, due to it's larger size. If the law passes, wouldn't that make hybrid technology main stream? Due to heavy traffic I would expect NYC cab operators would save tons of money on gas and maintenance and prove once and for all:
1. reliability of hybrid technology in heavy duty city driving
2. actual cost savings in fuel, probably offsetting higher cost of the car within few weeks.
I think hybrid technology is not for everybody, but it will shine in heavy city traffic , with nothing else even coming close. Maybe then we stop hearing those idiotic comments from highly placed car executives that hybrid technology is just a passing trend., when they don't even have a prototype of technology to replace it.

But a TCH has a small trunk for a cab, assuming that cabs use their trunks often for luggage.

The yellow cab company in BC Canada now has 31 Prius cabs. Apart from airport/bus/train station runs most of their customers only have a brief case or a few bags of shopping. Hardly the need for a gas chewing Crown Vic.

The day will come when all service vehicles are hybrids.
2 weeks ago I was passed by a Ministry of Transport TCH.

I was very pleased when I saw this but it should happen by 2009. God, do you know much that would save!!!??? I have been saying this for a few years now.

Due to the parking problems, yellow cabs are used mostly by New Yorkers to move around town and some yellow cabs are not too happy to drive tourists with luggage to airports anyway, so the trunk space is mostly irrelevant. Also I'm sure they would use larger SUV's as well. On the other hand I had no problem to put 2 large suitcases inside the trunk of my TCH, so unless it was a family of at least 4 people moving everything they own, don't think it would be a problem very often. BTW it's mayor Bloomberg not Blumberg, how stupid of me and rumor has it he maybe, just maybe running for some higher office.

Put the other foot in your mouth Edy the expert!
He's obviously not driven my TCH

Automotive News Daily Newsletter for May 23, 2007

EDWARD LAPHAM
"Hybrid cabs will put a charge in New York
You've got to give a lot of credit to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. His five-year plan to replace all of the city's 13,000 taxis with gasoline-electric hybrids is a bold stroke.
As any critic will tell you, hybrids are of marginal value on the highway, but they get outstanding fuel economy in stop-and-go traffic. If that doesn't describe New York, I don't know what does."

Last time I was down in NYC you couldn't have more than 5 in the cab (including the driver).

As Pete4 said, within New York few people ever have luggage when taking a cab, so trunk space isn't important. But the Prius and Ford Escape Hybrids both have good luggage space while being very fuel-efficient. Anyway I'm excited by this; during much of the day, more than half the cars on the road in Manhattan are taxis, and it'll be so interesting seeing most of the cars idle silently at intersections or slow traffic. Really neat. Anywhere else, hybrids would be a tiny minority of the vehicles on the road.

I drive cab in Chicago and maybe I should transform or make my toyota camry hybrid a tax i! hahaha.

I saw one prious, new one with the top light on the roof which means it is to bemade in to taxi at the toyota dealer.

to my knowledge, that prius I saw at the dealer is the first ever hybrid sedan in Chicago taxi industery. Normally, not all cars are allowed to change to cab but since mine is a hybrid and it is a sedan like the regular ford crown victoria, I feel sure city will gimme me permission to make it cab. Yes, the trunk is kinda small, so I may face face problem at the airport with people with huge lagguages. But not everything comes in perfect so not a big deal and I don't go to airports unless I get a fare going there first.

Gas is killing me with regular car. I am thinking of changing job too but not at the moment.

Say what?!? I estimated my $4700 hybrid upgrade ($6000 - $1300 tax credit) would take four to six years to pay for itself, based on my driving about 1000 miles a month. How many miles a month do you think a cab goes, anyways? To pay for itself in a month, it would have to be driven on order of 50,000 miles. Obviously, the hybrid upgrade cost could be lower by 2012, but I still don't see the fuel saving paying off within a few weeks.