NYC's "Taxi Of Tomorrow" Chosen

After a year-long contest to pick a replacement for the discontinued Ford Crown Victoria, New York City has selected a boring-ass Nissan minivan as its new "taxi of tomorrow." Passed over was the much cooler futuristic entry from Turkey's Karsan, which had pledged to manufacture its taxis in Brooklyn. Nissan now gets a ten-year exclusive contract to provide taxis to the city. Advocates for the disabled are quite unhappy because unlike the Turkish entry, the winning vehicle isn't wheelchair-accessible.

Is This Gotham's New Cab?

As I've blogged about several times, New York City has been holding a contest to replace its taxi fleet of about 12,000 Crown Victorias as Ford has discontinued the line. Today the Daily News reports that the top two finalists are an as-yet unseen Nissan "vanette" and the above model made by the little-known Karsan out of Turkey, which "features a sleek, futuristic design with a see-through glass roof for tourists and curious New Yorkers."

New York state Assemblyman Micah Kellner (my rep), who has cerebral palsy, notes that only the Karsan vehicle is wheelchair accessible. NYC pays many millions every year for a special fleet of disabled-friendly cabs, which must be dispatched by request, so Kellner's view could be very important to the final decision.

According to the rules, the winning taxi must be an "iconic vehicle that can be identified with New York City and exemplifies the character of the city." I guess the Karsan fits the bill, but I'd been pulling for Australia's futuristic Unicab (below). The new cabs must begin hitting the street by 2014.

Morning View - Crown Vics On Fifth

Hailing a fabulously roomy Crown Victoria taxi is getting rare as the city phases them out in anticipation of Ford ending the line's production next year. In the last week or so I've been stuck with a Prius, a Camry, and a Honda SUV. Yeah, yeah environment something something. Boo. There's nothing like that post-club drunk sprawl as you bounce around in the back of a Crown Vic on the way home. That's one quintessential NYC experience I'm gonna miss.

If Only We All Had A Taxi Guard

The WBNA's New York Liberty have been posting a YouTube series on NYC etiquette. This one's about evil taxi stealers. (If only all cab thieves were so cute.) The last time I gave a cab thief a piece of my mind, her ginormous boyfriend materialized from the shadows to show me his switchblade. True story. West 28th Street.

The Taxi Of Tomorrow?

New York City plans on replacing all of its cabs by 2013 and is soliciting design concepts. Above is the Unicab as proposed by an Australian company.

The futuristic Unicab is all electric, has room for seven people, space for luggage and a ramp for disabled passengers. The front passenger seat is spun around, to let the rider face his or her friends. The model has LED screens on the outside telling would-be ride-sharing passengers where the cab is going and how many seats are available. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has requested proposals for designs. The winning model will likely replace most cabs by 2013.

I especially like that the driver would ride in a one-man pod, meaning no more riding shotgun on their front seat when the back seat is full.