An appeals court ruled that the plan for a new fleet of taxi cabs for New York City from Nissan Motor Co. is legal, according to Crain’s New York.
The ruling from the appeals court overturns a ruling from a judge who said that the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission went above its authority by requiring owners to purchase a specific vehicle.
Judge David Saxe wrote the following in his opinion:
The Taxi of Tomorrow program is a “legally appropriate response to the agency’s statutory obligation to produce a 21st-century taxicab consistent with the broad interests and perspectives that the agency is charged with protecting.”
The contract Nissan won is for $1 billion for 10 years with the city and it was awarded the contract in May of 2011. The contract is for Nissan to supply the city with minivans that have sliding doors, airbags in the back, and more luggage space. The Nissan NV200 was designated as the “Taxi of Tomorrow” by the commission in September of 2012.
In December of 2012, taxi fleet operates filed a lawsuit against the city to block the vehicle requirement. The program was halted just five months later when it was ruled that the program violated the administrative code because it did not allow medallion owners to purchase a hybrid vehicle. When the ruling came down, the city allowed medallion owners to purchase hybrids until Nissan develops a version for the NV200.
The judge who made the initial ruling was appeals court Judge Ronaldo Acosta.