What's Yellow and Checkered and Green All Over?

cab-1.jpg The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has approved a plan that will add six new hybrid electric models to the city's streets.  The new cabs would get from 29-60 miles per gallon---the current standard cab model, the Ford Crown Victoria-Stretch, gets only 18 mpg.

Last week, NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a City Council bill directing the Commission to approve a hybrid vehcile for taxi use. The new cars will be more expensive and have a little less legroom than their predecessors. But the commission said environmental goals should outweigh those concerns.

New York has the largest fleet of cabs in the country, so it's great to see them moving toward including greener vehicles. It would be terrific, too, to see this nationally. In February, two cab companies in San Francisco added 15 electric vehicles to that city's taxi fleet.