The Late Twentieth Century

With the waning years of the twentieth century, the cab continued to evolve, as this time there were over 12,000 cabs in New York. By this time, the cab had become an integrated part of the city and its culture. Television, movies, and cartoons feature the distinctive yellow cab in all kinds of scenarios, and it continues to be a visual marker of New York urban living. Cabs have also changed with the decades in the vehicle type, and New Yorkers and visitors now ride in Sports Utility Vehicles and vans to their destination.

The future holds the use of alternative fuels, safer features, and technological changes that we have not even imagined yet. The taxi's importance will not diminish as people look to urban mass transportation as an alternative to driving their own people, and with the advent of the "greener" perspective. Public transportation is taking on this more environmentally friendly outlook, and cabs are not far behind in seeing these changes. A new company, called Envirocab, has appeared featuring hybrid taxis that emit 1/3 less of the emissions than a regular Yellow Cab Taxi in New York (USA) does. Though just on the forefront of this new technology, these cabs charge the same price and give similar service, making them a more environmentally friendly version of their gasoline run cousin.

This also has offered changes for the driver, who saves an enormous amount in gasoline cost. The hybrid costs around ten to fifteen a day to run, versus almost forty to sixty dollars for the traditional cab. The battery, which is charged every time the driver breaks the vehicle, takes up the slack when the gasoline engine is not needed. It makes a wonderful combination that helps the environment, driver, and passenger. New York is active in this respect, planning to make all yellow cabs hybrids by the year 2012.

This focus on new technology is making cabs more competitive with other forms of public transportation, and keeps the environmentally minded smiling as industry jumps on the green bandwagon, discovering the hidden savings behind the new research and applications.