The New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission has no plans at this time to bring the luxury limousine category into the 25 mpg rule, said Matthew Daus, commissioner/chair. One of the issues that the TLC has taken into consideration is that luxury limousine operators pay more for auto insurance than black car operators, which already makes their operating costs more challenging in New York City.
The TLC has met with the NLA and the Limousine Associations of New Jersey to talk about these issues, he said, and leadership from both industry associations seemed comfortable with the situation. The TLC is also going to start-up pilot testing programs of vehicles, including the CNG-powered stretch limousine being created by Empire Coachworks, based in East Brunswick, N.J.
Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and Dallas are looking at adopting a similar program, but taxis are the main focus right now, Daus said. “We may include operators in the livery category (which are usually high mileage Town Cars) under the new mileage rules,” he said. “We have no current plans to do anything with luxury limousines, but would alert everyone if that were to happen.”
Print | posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008 3:53 PM