The city of Boston, Massachusetts has become the first city in America to officially approve of Ford's Transit Connect (2010 North American Truck of the Year) as a taxi.
Mark Cohen, Boston PD Licensing Division director, says this about the Transit Connect: "It's the closest thing to a purpose-built vehicle for taxi use that I've seen in 25 years." I guess he's never been to the UK...
For many places, the issue with replacing the large, Panther-based Crown Victorias has been the regulation of vehicles that are allowed to perform taxi duties. A successor would have to meet various size/measurement/cargo/safety standards before approval, and the city of Boston has deemed the TC Taxi worthy of the job.
Why is it a good follow-up? "Its open architecture provides excellent interior headroom and passenger visibility and, with 6.5 inches of ground clearance, passengers step easily through the sliding doors."
So it's roomy and ingress/egress are a cinch. That's important, but another factor has been on everyone's mind when it comes to purchasing fleet vehicles: efficiency.
The TC Taxis come standard engine with a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder and an automatic transmission, which are said to return up to 30% improved fuel economy. Other options include packages that can convert the taxis to run on either compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied propane gas (LPG), which will take cleanliness, efficiency, and cost savings to an even higher level.
"According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CNG is less expensive and burns cleaner than gasoline, resulting in 30 to 40 percent less greenhouse gas emissions. Propane also burns cleaner than gasoline."
CNG tanks can be stored behind the rear seats and there's still enough room for luggage, says Ford.
Other factory-installed fleet-vehicle necessities (or bonuses) include vinyl flooring, third-row windows, and a "wiring upfit" package. The rear seat (available in vinyl for durability and late-night clean-ups) was also moved back 3 inches for improved legroom, and a heating/cooling system was added for second-row passenger comfort.
When it comes to future tech, Ford is working with CMT (Creative Mobile Technologies) "to integrate premier payment processing and passenger information technologies in the taxi, including an 8.4-inch electronic infotainment and navigation screen that shows cab fares, news, weather, sports scores and stock ticker."
Congratulations, Boston, on becoming Test Market #1. Let's hope this works, because those Crown Vics are getting ratty.
By Phil Alex
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