Supporters envision the project, called Garden in Transit, as kaleidoscopic artwork on a massive civic canvas, with the general public as artist. Organizers recently set up a studio in a historic hotel ballroom and are inviting anyone interested in painting to go to the project's Web site, www.gardenintransit.org.

"The city will look more vibrant, and this just sets New York apart from all the other cities that have transportation that's so bland," Evelisse Viamontee, 13, said after painting a panel — in sky blue, teal and lavender — at the studio on a recent morning.

City Taxi & Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus called it "just a great way to marry art and history."

While cabs are common in at least parts of many cities, New York is an undisputed taxi capital. Its nearly 13,000 taxis make up the nation's biggest fleet by far — the next largest, in Washington, D.C., totals about 6,800, said Bruce Schaller, a former New York taxi commission official who produces an annual taxi fact book.

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