Helping Cabs Run Cleaner

A gas/electric hybrid taxi, one of the 250 alternative-fuel cabs added to New York City's fleet, speeds through Times Square.

Stroll through a New York City souvenir shop and, amidst piles of "I LOVE NY" T-shirts and tiny Lady Libertys, you'll find rows of miniature taxi cabs. The yellow cab has been a staple for residents and tourists for 100 years and has become an icon as well as a means of getting around the City. But most of us are unaware that taxis expose us to more pollutants than any other mode of transportation. The active fleet of 13,000 yellow cabs travels an average of 1 billion miles per year and emits a toxic stew that contributes to lung and cardiovascular disease, asthma, and birth defects. The pollution levels inside taxis are higher than in other cars because the standard model, the Ford Crown Victoria, can run for hundreds of thousands of miles, defeating environmental remediation equipment.

In 2007, Design Trust for Public Space used a $35,000 grant to work with the Taxi and Limousine Commission to make yellow cabs pollute less. The grant resulted in the launch of the 2008 Taxi of Tomorrow program which pursued the creation of a new iconic taxi for New York City. The Design Trust also worked with the Commission to create and adopt principles to guide decision-making in an environmentally friendly direction.