The cost of riding in a New York City taxi would jump 22.9% under a new city proposal for the first yellow cab meter rate hike in over a decade, city officials said.
Rates to ride in a yellow or green taxicab have been unchanged since September 2012, the year after Uber entered the New York City market and dramatically transformed the for-hire car industry, the Taxi and Limousine Commission said in proposals released last week.
City bean counters estimate the proposed rate hike will increase driver revenue 33% based on 2019 passenger levels, and increase medallion revenue by 29.5%, the TLC said.
“It’s long overdue,” said former TLC Chair Matt Daus, who served under Mayors Rudy Giuliani and Mike Bloomberg. “It’s probably the longest time we’ve ever seen it than I can remember, but also we had a pandemic. Now that we’re coming out of it, I think it’s a good idea.”
A proposal to hike yellow cab meter rates would include a new surcharge for taxi rides to and from LaGuardia Airport. It would also boost existing surcharges. Getty ImagesThe proposed hike actually involves several increases, officials said, beginning with upping the base fare from $2.50 to $3. Officials also will create a new $5 surcharge for taxi trips to and from LaGuardia Airport, according to the proposal.
Other changes include:
- Increasing the flat fare to Kennedy Airport from $52 to $65.
- Increasing rush-hour and nighttime surcharges.
- Hiking the surcharge for trips to Newark Airport from $17.50 to $20.
- Raising the “taxi improvement surcharge” from $0.30 to $1.
The meter hike “will help address the challenges of the evolving taxicab and street hail livery sectors and their need for revitalization by putting more money in the pockets of drivers,” TLC officials wrote in their rule change proposal posted on the city website.
New York City taxis pass through Times Square in a 2014 photo. A proposal would increase base fares from $2.50 to $3. APAsked about the prospect of tacking on a big increase to get around town for New Yorkers already struggling with inflation, Daus said meter hikes typically put a dent in for-hire ridership, but that the demand eventually returns.
“Every time we do a fare increase, there’s always going to be a ridership decrease. It’s usually temporary. The biggest issue is how long it lasts,” he said. “People shell it out and it returns to normal.”
A separate proposal would increase the hourly wages of Uber and other app-based drivers.
A passenger gets into a taxi in 2020. Riders may get hit with the first meter rate increase in a decade. AP“This is something we fought for. We were in talks with the TLC over this for the past couple of months,” said New York Taxi Workers Alliance executive director Bhairavi Desai.
The increases bring NYTWA’s members “just a few inches away” from their target of $25-an-hour wages, Desai said.
The rate hike comes as MTA officials mull charging taxi and for-hire vehicle passengers congestion pricing fees of $9 to $23.
TLC commissioners will hold a hearing on the proposed rate hikes on Oct. 6.
