The state Assembly yesterday passed a bill to dramatically expand taxicab access throughout the five boroughs; now it’s up to the Senate.

In much of the city, your wait time to hail a taxi is now approximately . . . forever. If you do hail a ride on the Grand Concourse or Flatbush Avenue, it’s probably with a livery car, a practice that is illegal — but happens about 150,000 times a day.

New Yorkers hail livery cabs because they don’t have much of a choice. But if they do find a ride, they risk being overcharged, or getting into an unsafe and unlicensed vehicle.

Why can’t we hail metered cabs outside of Manhattan? Because long ago government granted the yellow cabs a monopoly on street hails, and they make nearly all of their pick-ups in Manhattan or at the airports — leaving everyone else at the curb.

In January, Mayor Bloomberg proposed a common-sense solution to this problem: Let the livery drivers that have provided street hail service for years continue to meet the market’s demand, but do it legally and in a way that is safer and more convenient for passengers.

But will the Senate pass the bill? It would allow up to 30,000 permits for livery cars wishing to make street-hail pickups in areas where the yellow cabs simply don’t go: the four outer boroughs plus Northern Manhattan.

These cars would have many of the same quality features as yellow cabs: a metered fare, so you don’t have to haggle over the price; a credit/debit card reader so you can hail a ride even when you don’t have cash; and a roof light to signal when they’re available for hire — hopefully reducing all that honking.

These cars would have a distinctive color and markings so you’ll know you’re entering a safe vehicle that’s been inspected, is sufficiently insured, and whose driver passed a background check and drug test. And you’ll still be able to call your local car service for a pickup.

This bill would also make it easier to get a cab in Manhattan by adding 1,500 yellow medallions to the fleet, 569 of them for wheelchair-accessible cabs.

Livery drivers and taxi drivers have both come out in support of this plan. Owners of yellow-taxi fleets are understandably concerned about the value of their taxi medallions. But yellow cabs would still have exclusive rights to pick up passengers in most of Manhattan and the airports, which is where they make 97 percent of their pick-ups, so there would be virtually no impact on their business.

And the taxi industry would clearly benefit from the plan’s more aggressive enforcement against illegal street hails and the installation of GPS locators in the new livery vehicles, both of which will reduce competition from non-yellow taxis in Manhattan and at the airports.

For too long, we have had a system that favors taxi providers over taxi passengers, leaving New Yorkers stranded at the corner. This bill can help get New Yorkers off the curb and on our way. And that’s a proposition worth tipping for.

David Yassky is the city Taxi & Limousine commissioner; Stephen Goldsmith is deputy mayor for operations.