The baggage claim in New York City is basically the equivalent of a random raffle to see who is going to be able to get in the taxi line first. There are some that have rides waiting, but a large majority are headed straight for that long streak of yellow striping the LaGuardia exits. I waited eagerly for that giant black and gray Samsonite that was half filled with food from my parents and half filled with some gifts from the holiday. Luckily, my ticket was one of the first plucked out of the baggage pin, so I was able to get in line quickly.
Today, as I returned from the great Midwest to NYC, and was told, "all the way at the end, 63," I expected the come to the usual Ford Crown Vic or Ford Escape. To my interest, a 2011-2012 Lincoln MKZ hybrid pulled up. According to the driver, it's the only one in all of New York City. The city has been making an effort to switch all cars over to hybrids, so that part was no surprise. The driver said that, compared to about a $40 expense on 100 miles in the Crown Vic, he was now only paying about $10 for 100 miles in the MKZ. Not too shabby, right?
The rear of the taxi wasn't really too different from of the cars. Aside from a few more chrome accents, you had the typical one sheet of canvas as a back seat, taxi TV, and scuffed up backs of the front seat. There was no partition, however, in an effort to save space. One thing I did notice was the smooth ride. Almost all taxis shake, rattle and roll, but the MKZ was nice and quiet. Add that to the friendly driver, and you could do a lot worse than the only Lincoln that ain't a town car.
