New York City's disappearing cars a mystery

Newsday reports that the number of cars, taxis and trucks registered in New York City is declining rapidly. From '00 to '03, city-wide registrations dropped 8.5% to 1.9 million. An Albany pencil pusher theorizes that the high cost of car ownership caused the fall, while a senior economist blames the high costs of housing and 911. Then again, vehicle owners may be registering their vehicles out of state, or using fake addresses. Or not registering them at all. Or switching to public transportation. It's not known if alien abductions have been ruled out as contributing factor.