First of all, I don’t see how with current rates taxi use is going to go up. Transit users aren’t going to become medallion taxi users.

It’s more likely that disaffected mass transit users outside Manhattan will have greater reliance on neighborhood car services and vans. For at least the next five years, that primarily means dinosaurs which are bought used — like the Ford Crown Victoria/Lincoln Town Car and the big Chevy/Ford vans, none of which are gas-sippers. Nothing’s going to change that, and — while I know it’s sacrilege to say this around here — fuel costs aren’t everything.

As you know, the Crown Vic and Town Car goes out of production one year from now. You can’t blame yellow taxi fleet buyers for wanting to stock up on such a proven platform. I say let them buy what they want. After next summer, of course the fleet will more quickly replaced with hybrids, clean diesels and other fuel-efficient alternatives. That’s why I think NYC was misguided and arrogant. It was a heavy-handed attempt to dictate what is already happening in the marketplace.