Reader Opinions
Thoughts on neighborhood electric vehicles
By: George Kasp
This ordinance, as it pertains to taxicabs, reminds me of the proverb: I am from the government and I am here to help you.
First off, all this “Where As” talk stating what government officials are going to do and why it is going to be done concerns me because it sounds like it is going to be done whether anybody has anything to say about it or not. As a citizen who owns and drives one taxicab, am I supposed to be convinced by all the “Where As” talk that the ordinance being considered is reasonable and just?
Neighborhood electric vehicle sounds so neighborly. This new plan for a neighborhood taxicab service has some appeal because it's so environmentally friendly. My deep concern is that once a so-called downtown area neighborhood taxi service is ordained, the next logical step might be to exclude all regular taxicabs out of the downtown service area. That would not be very neighborly and would effectively cripple the taxicab industry. Drivers have to make a living driving cabs and companies will be forced to buy these vehicles, which at this point are not commercially viable, all in the guise of reducing greenhouse gases, which at this time seems like the right thing to do.
Unfortunately the taxicab business always seems to be the first private industry to be used as guinea pigs in the city's experiments in reducing greenhouse gases.
