Yellow is Green October 26, 2007 – Posted in: Aberrant Normalcy
Last night I saw my first hybrid New York City taxi cab. It always seemed rather obvious to me that the easiest way to remove some of the belching smog and pollution from our streets would be to replace the 13,000 yellow cabs with hybrid varieties. It appears someone else has had the same idea. It really made my day. I was so excited, I forgot to check the model.
I must have been sleeping under a rock for the past two years, because I also discovered upon googling taxis this morning that the entire New York fleet, under the direction of Mayor Bloomberg, is to be hybrid by 2012.  While I once spoke out against the Mayor’s congestion tax, I have since softened. I imagine a day, in less than five years, when all of the city’s public transportation automobiles will be hybrid, when the number of commuter automobiles in the city are drastically reduced, and this will lead to the cleanest air New Yorkers have had since before the invention of the car. It won’t be perfect air. The cars will still emit some pollution, but it’s a step in the right direction. A big step.
5 Comments
Mercurio D. Rivera October 29, 2007 - 12:51
Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg for his attempted greening of the city.
Matthew Kressel October 29, 2007 - 18:26
Another thing some cities do is promote “green” rooftops. One of the reasons cities get so hot in the summer is because of the black roofs. If people plant more rooftop gardens, it can reduce the temperature in a city by as much as a few degrees. That’s pretty substantial.
Devin October 30, 2007 - 12:45
Green rooftops also reduce the amount of rain runoff that ends up in the city sewage systems. There are some considerations to be taken, though, such as verifying that the roof can support the weight, make sure the plant roots do not damage the structure, etc.
I’ve looked into planting sod on our roof a few times, as an extension to our existing container garden, but so far the logistics have made it prohibitive.
-Devin
Aston West November 02, 2007 - 21:13
I recently saw a news article where Paris was going to be switching to “rent a bikes” as their new method of mass transportation…it was an interesting story.
NY TAXI November 30, 2007 - 20:10
I think new york city yellow cab drivers will be happy to save to save some money on hybrid cars.