TechLuver.com

NEW YORK - Police have found a way to help save the planet and perhaps sneak up on bad guys at the same time: an all-electric, ultra-quiet scooter, Newsday reports.

Newsday further writes, “The New York Police Department will begin road testing four of the plug-in Vectrix scooters early next month _ part of a broader campaign to make the nation’s largest police department a greener one as well.

The 36,000-officer NYPD has been looking for ways to retool its massive motor fleet to guzzle less gas and inflict less harm on the environment. A handful of NYPD hybrid cars and so-called flex-fuel vehicles, which can run on both gasoline and ethanol, are already on the road.

Vectrix recently approached several big city police departments with the sleek, two-wheel scooters, but the NYPD was the first to take a serious look, said Andrew MacGowen, president of the Rhode Island-based company.

MacGowen said the Vectrix scooters, assembled in Poland, are the first all-electric vehicles to be government-certified to travel on any highway, street or road.

The Vectrix, which has a battery pack, is heavier than the Piaggio, but with a top speed of more than 60 mph, it’s nearly as fast. And riders cruise past the fuel pump: The scooters can be recharged simply by plugging into a standard outlet for two hours. MacGowen said recharging costs a fraction of refueling _ a savings he says would quickly cover the difference in price with Piaggios, which cost the NYPD about half as much.

The Vectrix can only travel 40 to 60 miles per charge, but police officials said they may be willing to sacrifice some range for zero emissions. Plus, the scooters would have the dual benefit of “reducing air pollution and noise pollution,” said Robert Martinez, the NYPD fleet director.” More at Newsday.

“Keep Up the Pressure! 24 Hour Strike on October 22 Begins at 5 AM.” Says New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA). New York, NY — October 22 ‘07 — In opposition to a plan by New York City, requiring taxicabs to let customers watch TV and pay with credit cards, as well as allowing drivers’ employers to track them with GPS, about 10,000 cabdrivers are expected to strike on Monday; the strike by NYTWA is the second in less than two months.

“There are several dead zones throughout the city where the credit card machine simply does not work,” Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the NYTWA, said at a news conference Sunday. “A passenger may swipe it and jump out of the cab … but then three minutes later the message comes on the screen that the credit card was declined. Who’s going to compensate the drivers?”

“The contingency plan we have created will ensure that New Yorkers, as well as visitors to our city, are able to travel without serious disruptions,” said Office of Emergency Management head Joseph Bruno. NYTWA, which claims to represent about a fifth of the city’s 44,000 licensed cab drivers, is opposed to the new technology, which is being phased in as yellow cabs come up for inspection.

The touch-screen monitors let passengers pay by credit card, check on news stories, map their taxi’s current location and look up restaurant and entertainment information.

“We are not going to back down,” Bhairavi Desai, the alliance’s executive director, said in an interview with the New York Times. The strike has a twin objective of utilizing revenue from a planned medallion auction to come up with health care and retirement benefits for cabbies.