Nissan's Taxi of Tomorrow going ahead after court win

NV200 plan upheld by the New York Court of Appeals; existing cabs to be gradually replaced

Nissan 
The Taxi of Tomorrow is rolling ahead after a court win. 

The look of the streets of New York is about to change for good, it seems, with the Nissan NV200 Taxi of Tomorrow program scoring a crucial court win, Bloomberg reports.

The New York Court of Appeals overturned an earlier decision of the New York Supreme Court, issued in the fall of 2013, which ruled that the city's mandate to gradually replace all taxis operated in New York with Nissan NV200 was an overreach of the city's executive authority.

Nissan had won the contract to design and build a Taxi of Tomorrow in a competition overseen by the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission, but plans to gradually phase out all other taxis met with a sharp backlash by taxi company operators. The Greater New York Taxi Association challenged the city, voicing concerns that the NV200 may be pricey to operate due to its lack of hybrid technology, in addition to making the argument that the city could not force all cab companies to buy the same type of vehicle from just one manufacturer.

Hybrids of all types have become popular with cab companies in recent years, and many cab company owners said that they would have preferred replacing aging cars with hybrids. The owners had initially won a victory with the New York Supreme Court (the lowest court in the New York state system, despite its name) halting the program on grounds that the Taxi and Limousine Commission had exceeded its authority under the city charter by mandating cab company owners purchase one specific vehicle. A prior ruling by the court allowed the owners to buy hybrids until Nissan fields a hybrid version of the NV200, which it promises by 2015.

This latest court victory by the Taxi and Limousine Commission puts the Taxi of Tomorrow plan back on track, though another federal court case remains unresolved, according to Bloomberg. Advocates for the handicapped sued the Taxi and Limousine Commission in 2011 to force the city to make all taxi vehicles wheelchair accessible, which is possible since Nissan has developed a wheelchair-accessible version in partnership with BraunAbility. In 2011, the U.S. District Court ruled that the commission's plan would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, though that ruling itself was overturned in 2012, with the U.S. Court of Appeals finding that the act does not obligate the Taxi and Limousine Commission to require taxi owners to provide access to the handicapped.

Even though Nissan was pleased with the outcome of this week's decision, it does create a bit of a conundrum for taxi fleet operators, as the Americans with Disabilities Act requires all for-hire vans to be wheelchair accessible. That puts the city and taxi cab operators in an uncomfortable position legally, due to the fact that not every NV200 will be wheelchair accessible.

But for now, the Taxi of Tomorrow is rolling ahead, with Nissan selling the NV200 taxi for approximately $29,700.