KarsanVI: Wheelchair accessible, plexiglass roof, Wi-Fi capabilities and seats up to 5 passengers (Chad Rachman/New York Post)
Nissan NV200: Roomiest, with most leg room, aims to be fully electric, and already in use in Japan. (Chad Rachman/New York Post)
Ford Transit Connect: Includes jack for MP3 players, more than 135 cubic feet of luggage space, already in use around the country. Ford has a proven track record with current Crown Victoria cab (HANDOUT)
(
)
One of three striking designs revealed by city officials yesterday will become the Big Apple’s exclusive taxi cab — but riders will get a chance to chime in first.
A widespread survey will ask passengers what they want in — and out of — the “Taxi of Tomorrow.” Options range from smart phone and iPod outlets to a sunroof “for better views of the city.”
Riders can also say what they don’t like about yellow cabs, among the choices being “TaxiTv is annoying.”
The finalists — which all look like tall, boxy minivans — are made by Ford Motor Co., Nissan North America and Karsan, a Turkish company.
The three companies have one month from yesterday to submit their final proposals, and the winner is expected to be announced early next year. The first of the new cabs could be on the streets as early as 2013, but no later than the fall of 2014.
“None of these is perfect. Each has room for improvement,” said Taxi and Limousine Commission chief David Yassky.
Other options are “lights that alert other road-users that taxi doors are opening” to “ramps to roll items in and out of cabs.”
Passengers who go to the city’s Web page can take the survey — and also enter a drawing to win a year of free taxi rides up to $5,000.
But riders yesterday were already deciding which cab they’d like to hail on the street.
Jonathan Urena, 21, a chef who lives in Queens, said he likes the Nissan.
“It looks the biggest and coolest,” he said in Midtown. “I’d definitely love to be able to use my iPod and maybe even be able to get free Wi-Fi someday.”
Nicole Baer, 28, of Brooklyn, who works in film, said, “All of the three finalists look ugly and oversized.”
Still, she added, “I don’t think you really need a lot of frills when choosing a taxi — they’re just there to get you from A to B.”
The city is negotiating prices for the vehicles, but Yassky said the Nissan NV200 and the KarsanVI are roughly $32,000 each. The Ford Transit Connect would cost more.
All three would cost more than the Ford Crown Victoria, the soon-to-be-discontinued model that now accounts for the majority of the city’s current fleet of 13,237 cabs.
The Karsan was the only design that is wheelchair-accessible, and it also boasts a plexiglass roof.
The Nissan is “the roomiest,” Yassky said.
He said Ford is “a partner that can be relied upon” because it was the maker of the workhorse Crown Victoria.