Yellow Taxi Cabs in New York City

20 Things You Should Know About Fares, Rider Rights, Complaints, and More

Are you planning a trip to New York City and anticipating a number of yellow taxi cab rides? Perhaps you’re a city resident who already uses taxis, but you don’t know all the little rules associated with riding? The yellow taxi cabs in New York City are thoroughly regulated, with policies sometimes different than those in other large cities. According to the Schaller Consulting’s Taxicab Fact Book, nearly 13,000 NYC taxis provided rides to over 241 million passengers in 2005 alone. With such volume, you know that New York has the taxi business down to a science.

Here are 20 things you should know about yellow taxi cabs in New York City, with the most basic points first.

1. Service Type.  Yellow Taxi Cabs in New York City CANNOT be called in advance; they can only be hailed on the street or approached at a taxi stand. Many tourists do not realize this. If you want a for-hire vehicle to pick you up at a specific location, you have to use a different kind of service, and separate rates will apply.

2. Receipt. You should always get a receipt, even if you’re not planning to get reimbursed for the ride by an employer. The reason? Your receipt records the medallion number and time, in case you need to make a complaint or you realize you left a belonging in the cab.

3. Regular Fare Structure. $2.50 is the starting fare, with each 1/5 of a mile costing 40 cents. There is also an idle time rate for each minute the cab is stopped in traffic (defined as moving less than 6 miles and hour).

4. Night and Peak Surcharges. Between 8:00pm, and 6:00am, there is a night surcharge of 50 cents that applies every day of the week. During the Monday through Friday workweek, there is also a Peak Hour surcharge of $1.00 for rides between 4:00pm and 8:00pm, as this is obviously the most hectic taxi time.