N.Y. taxi agency approves hybrid models

[original source N.Y. Times]

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, which only recently had raised concerns about the adequacy of legroom in hybrid vehicles, cleared the way Tuesday for six hybrid models to be used as taxicabs as early as this fall.

The commission did not have much choice in the matter, because a City Council bill signed last week by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg gave the panel 90 days to approve hybrid vehicles--considered better for the environment than traditional cars--for use on the city's streets.

Even so, the commission's support was striking, because officials had indicated before that they felt none of the hybrids on the market had enough legroom.

Before they met Tuesday morning, the commissioners tested several of the vehicles, getting in the rear and front passenger seats and even behind the steering wheels. Peter Schenkman, assistant commissioner for safety and emissions, said they found the Toyota Highlander and Toyota Prius "surprisingly roomy," while the Honda Accord seemed "not as roomy as one would expect." The Honda Civic, he said, "does feel very confined."

[reading as they really never rode in a hybrid before and have some bias]

Even the Toyota Prius, considered the most spacious of the six models with 38.6 inches of rear legroom, has less interior space than the model most commonly used now, the Ford Crown Victoria, which has 45.6 inches [which to be fair is a special extended length Crown Victoria]. To make up for the reduced space, some drivers will be permitted to install a camera instead of the usual security partition, which takes up several inches of space in the rear.

[read all about it through the link above]