Ford Takes a Stab at Reinventing NYC Cab
March 19, 2008

NEW YORK — When the call went out that New York City wanted to reinvent the venerable taxicab to bring it into the 21st Century, Ford — already the leading provider of cabs nationwide — responded using an upcoming model as its basis.

Ford unveils its concept of the futuristic taxicab based on the Ford Transit Connect at the New York auto show Wednesday.

Ford recently announced it would begin selling its Transit Connect delivery truck/van in the U.S. in summer 2009. The Transit Connect is built in Turkey, is already very popular in Europe and was named International Van of the Year when it was launched in 2003.

For New York the Transit Connect answers the requirements of city leaders for a contemporary taxi that is small enough to navigate city’s congested streets while accommodating passengers and their luggage, and operates more cleanly and efficiently.

Ford says the cab version of the Transit Connect accommodates three rear-cab passengers and 75 cubic feet of parcels because of its boxy vertical structure — a look that mirrors the New York City skyline, noted Peter Horbury, Ford’s executive director of design for the Americas.

“When cities ran out of horizontal space at the turn of the 20th century, architects started to build upward,” Horbury said in Ford’s statement. “The Transit Connect Taxi concept brings that same idea to the streets, changing the shape of the space, making it taller with a smaller and narrow footprint.”

In terms of efficiency and cleanliness, the Transit Connect comes with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine and automatic transmission, estimated to deliver fuel economy of 19 mpg in the city — a more than 30 percent improvement in fuel economy. Its tailpipe emissions are nearly 90 percent lower than many of today’s traditional taxis, Ford claims.

For the New York auto show, designers dressed up the Transit Connect Taxi concept with the iconic yellow paint of the city's cabs but added contrasts of deep gray molded-in-color fender flares as well as front and rear fascias that serve dual duty as impact-resistant bumpers. They also added a "bubble" — panel mounted horizontally above the roof, lit on all four sides — that is green if the cab is available, orange if it’s occupied.

The Transit Connect Taxi concept has a low 6.5 inches of ground clearance so passengers step easily through the sliding doors and into the cab, instead of sliding down into the back seat. The high-roof van offers ample headroom, accentuated by a vista roof that brightens the three-person passenger compartment and provides views of the urban architecture. 

The Taxi concept also features a new electronic infotainment and navigation system that shows passengers their accumulating cab fare, and scrolls news, weather, sports score and stock ticker. Using the 13-inch diagonal touch screen, passengers also can select their choice of video and music channels, follow the taxi’s journey on a map or scroll through a list of points of interest along the route, including restaurants, museums and shops.

Once at the destination, the screen displays the fare with options to pay via cash, credit or debit. Cardholders can swipe their card, enter a pin number for debit, calculate the tip and complete the transaction right from their seat. Cash-paying passengers can use “Sputnik,” a rotating billet-aluminum softball-sized orb that replaces the outdated sliding ashtray used on today’s taxis. 

Ahead of the partition, the driver’s area comes with a fold-flat passenger seat that doubles as a work station. The Transit Connect Taxi concept is equipped with an in-dash computer, powered by Microsoft Auto, to provide high-speed Internet access via the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. The Garmin navigation, which features real-time weather and traffic information, is intended to allow drivers to find the most trouble-free routes. 

Ford: Cab Leader
Ford has been a leader in the taxi business for decades. The Ford Crown Victoria is the queen of the taxi market in cities throughout the U.S. Ford also was the first manufacturer to introduce gas-electric hybrid-powered taxis into North American fleets with the launch of the Ford Escape Hybrid in San Francisco and New York City in early 2005. Today, New York’s Escape hybrid fleet has grown to more than 800, including the original 18 that joined the fleet in 2005, still running with the original nickel-metal hydride batteries intact.

“Taxis are an important part of the urban landscape, and the Transit Connect Taxi concept represents a potential game-changer, given its small footprint, comfortable, spacious interior, fuel-efficient engine and affordability,” said Mark Fields, Ford's president of The Americas. “We’re interested to see how people react.”

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 4:29 AM under Ford , News | Comments (1) | digg this | Seed Newsvine