My thought was that a random musing that shows you think about the world around you was a good way to go. Also, you'll have very little room to introduce your topic, so it has to be about something relatively simple or universal. (Note: I know some of my syntax is a little strange. It was designed (perhaps poorly) to satisfy the word limit.)

Both tourists and native New Yorkers often wonder why local taxi drivers accelerate aggressively towards red traffic lights, only to slam on the brakes at crosswalks. Why do they do this when faced with reduced fuel economy and increased vehicle wear? The answer lies in the design of the Taxi & Limousine Commission's official pricing scheme, which is comprised of four factors: A fixed fee, a surcharge during rush hour, a rate for mileage, and a rate for time stopped in traffic.

The fact that all but the last of these factors is determined at the outset of each trip encourages cab drivers to complete each fare as quickly as possible, thus maximizing the number of fixed fees received during each shift. The scheme also encourages drivers to maximize the portion of each fare spent idling in traffic. By accelerating into red lights, drivers increase the amount of time spent idling, without extending the lengths of complete trips. Therefore, this approach optimizes the number of fares per shift as well as the time idling per shift.

The driver also has little incentive to prevent wear on the vehicle, since most cabs in New York City are leased to different drivers each day. And additional fuel costs, which are estimated at only 5%, are far outstripped by the thousands of dollars in inflated fares earned by reallocating only seconds of each trip.

The moral: Hope yours is one of the few New York City cabs still equipped with a seat belt.