Hybrid Taxi Cabs Have Hit Burbank, but what about LA?

There's only 120 taxis operating in Burbank, but twenty of them have been hybrids since May. Cities across that nation have already started programs (NYC plans to have all 13,000 taxis to be hybrid in 5 years) but Los Angeles is a little behind with its 2,303 fleet. "We're researching the issue very carefully. We want to do it right," said Tom Drischler, taxicab administrator for Los Angeles, to the LA Times in the Burbank hybrid article. "We really want to get something going this year. We hope to present a program to the Board of Taxi Commissioners this fall." One hurdle for officials to solve is the safety partition, which is hard to put in a hybrid. Before they were mandated, a cabbie was being murdered about every 18 months.