![Taxicabs of New York City](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City.jpg)
In
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
taxicab
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
s come in two varieties: yellow and green; they are widely recognizable symbols of the city. Taxis painted yellow (medallion taxis) are able to pick up passengers anywhere in the
five boroughs
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awar ...
. Those painted apple green (street hail livery vehicles, commonly known as "
boro taxi
Boro taxis (or boro cab) are taxicabs of New York City, taxicabs in New York City that are allowed to pick up passengers (street hails or calls) in Borough (New York City), outer boroughs (excluding John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGu ...
s"), which began to appear in August 2013, are allowed to pick up passengers in
Upper Manhattan
Upper Manhattan is the most northern region of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its southern boundary has been variously defined, but some of the most common usages are 96th Street, the northern boundary of Central Park ( 110th Street), ...
,
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
(excluding
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...
and
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
), and
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull an ...
. Both types have the same fare structure. Taxicabs are operated by private companies and licensed by the
New York City taxi and Limousine Commission
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
(TLC). It also oversees over 40,000 other for-hire vehicles, including "black cars",
commuter vans, and
ambulette
An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport.
Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...
s.
Taxicab vehicles, each of which must have a
medallion
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
to operate, are driven an average of 180 miles per shift. , there were 51,398 individuals licensed to drive medallion taxicabs. There were 13,605 taxicab medallion licenses in existence. , that number had dropped slightly to 13,587 medallions, or 18 lower than the 2014 total. Taxi patronage has declined since 2011 due to competition from
ridesharing companies
A ridesharing company (also known as a transportation network company, ride-hailing service; the vehicles are called app-taxis or e-taxis) is a company that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire th ...
such as
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
.
The medallion system was created in 1937 as a government imposed limitation on the supply of taxicabs, requiring that a medallion be purchased for the right to operate a taxi. Thereafter, New York did not sell any medallions until 1996, when it auctioned slightly more than 2,000. The lack of new medallions resulted in such a shortage that by 2014 they were selling for more than $1 million each, with about 14,000 medallions in existence. Since then, the increase in rideshare vehicles, which numbered about 63,000 in 2015 and 100,000 by August 2018, has drastically reduced the market price of medallions.
, there are around 7,990
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
taxi vehicles, representing almost 59% of the taxis in service—the most in any city in North America. The
Nissan NV200
The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009.
Overview
The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by ...
won the city's bid to become the "Taxi of Tomorrow" to replace most of the city's taxi fleet, with its introduction scheduled for October 2012. Nevertheless, this decision has faced several lawsuits and criticism, with the NV200 subject to comparisons with more cost-effective and widely adopted models. , 6,000 Street Hail Livery (SHL) permits have been issued, 20% of which must be used with wheelchair-accessible vehicles, with 4,478 Street Hail Livery vehicles already in use by that time.
Industry
All types of taxis are licensed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which oversees for-hire vehicles, taxis,
commuter vans, and
paratransit
Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...
vehicles.
The iconic taxicabs come in two colors.
The apple green taxis, which are called
street hail livery vehicles or "boro taxis,"
operate only outside the Manhattan
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
, excluding
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
and
LaGuardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia. ...
. These taxis started operating in August 2013,
with 18,000 licenses being added in three waves of 6,000; the first group of 6,000 licenses was added in 2014.
The yellow "medallion"
taxicab
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
s can pick up anywhere in the city,
and numbered 13,437 licenses in 2014.
The TLC oversees over 100,000 for-hire vehicles, including "black cars"; "livery cars";
commuter "dollar vans"; luxury
limousine
A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment.
A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a prof ...
s; and
paratransit
Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...
vehicles.
Black cars cannot be hailed on the street, instead they must be dispatched by a parent business.
These businesses formerly used luxury cars such as a
Lincoln Town Car
The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to ...
due to their almost-exclusively business clientele,
and drivers ordinarily get less than 10% of their income in cash.
There were around 500 base stations for black cars, comprising a total fleet of 25,000 vehicles, as of the 2014 TLC Factbook.
Livery cars are similar to black cars, but are used by a greater range of people.
There were 80 livery bases and 10,000 livery vehicles in 2014.
Commuter vans carry more people, usually between 9 and 20 passengers per trip. Commuter van licenses were held by 50 entities, which collectively owned 500 vehicles, in 2014.
Luxury limousine providers and private paratransit companies numbered 200 each in 2014, collectively chartering 7,000 luxury limousine vehicles and 2,000 paratransit vehicles.
In 2015, there were 14,000 for-hire vehicles associated with one or more of four ride-sharing companies of the time:
Juno
Juno commonly refers to:
*Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods
*Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007
Juno may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters
*Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno''
*Ju ...
,
Lyft
Lyft, Inc. offers mobility as a service, ride-hailing, vehicles for hire, motorized scooters, a bicycle-sharing system, rental cars, and food delivery in the United States and select cities in Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic ...
,
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
, and
Via
Via or VIA may refer to the following:
Science and technology
* MOS Technology 6522, Versatile Interface Adapter
* ''Via'' (moth), a genus of moths in the family Noctuidae
* Via (electronics), a through-connection
* VIA Technologies, a Taiwan ...
. By 2018, over 80,000 such vehicles were being driven for "ride-share".
The average hourly gross income for a medallion driver in 2015 was $30.41, not including tips, according to the 2016 TLC Factbook. Boro (green) taxi drivers made $20.63, also excluding tips. Evening hours are typically more lucrative. Medallion Taxis collectively make between 300,000 and 400,000 trips a day, while Green Taxis, which hit the road in New York City in 2013, do almost 50,000 daily on average.
While the TLC does not regulate specific shifts, the morning shift for a medallion taxi typically begins at 5:30 a.m., and the evening shift often starts at 5:15 p.m.. Trips peak Friday evenings for medallion cabs, and Saturday night for Green Taxis.
There were about 143,674 taxis and for-hire vehicles licensed by the TLC in 2015, according to the 2016 Factbook.
These include 13,587 Medallion Taxicabs; 7,676 boro taxis; 38,791 black cars; 21,932 livery cars; 288 commuter vans; and 2,206 paratransit vehicles.
Passengers in New York City can arrange rides using smartphone apps in yellow medallion taxicabs, Boro (green) cabs, and for-hire vehicles. Each type of TLC-licensed vehicle has its own set of guidelines in regards to app usage, and the TLC has adopted new rules that codify these standards. Any companies that want to operate point-to-point for-hire service within the five boroughs, whether through an app or a phone call, need a TLC license to operate. They must also work only with TLC-licensed drivers and vehicles.
TLC-licensed drivers self-reported 167 different countries as their place of birth in the
2000 United States Census
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...
, and of all TLC drivers in 2000, 84% were immigrants, up from the 64% figure reported in 1990 and the 38% reported in 1980.
That year, about 18% of drivers identified their place of birth as
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, the country where the most taxi drivers reported themselves as having been born.
Drivers providing app-based services identify most commonly as being born in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...
and the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
/
West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
.
Additionally, 97% of New York City taxi drivers self-reported as male and only 2.5% to 3% self-reported as female.
This still held mostly true in 2015, where the greatest number of TLC drivers, about 14%, identified their place of birth as Bangladesh, followed by 12% the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
; 9% each from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
; and 6% from
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. , about half of traditional for-hire vehicle drivers were from the Dominican Republic, and nearly a quarter of medallion drivers were from Bangladesh.
Additionally, the vast majority of TLC drivers were still male, with female TLC drivers making up from 1% of medallion taxi drivers to 4% of app-based for-hire vehicle drivers. The average TLC driver was middle-aged, with app-based drivers having a median age of 39 and all other drivers having a median age of 46–47.
The TLC has a Driver Safety Honor Roll recognizes the safest Taxi and For-Hire Vehicle drivers in New York City. Drivers on the Honor Roll have had no crashes involving fatalities or injuries, no traffic violations, and no violations of TLC safety-related rules for five years or more.
Hailing
![USACab](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/USACab.JPG)
Medallion (yellow) cabs are concentrated in the borough of Manhattan, but can be hailed anywhere throughout the five boroughs of New York City and may be hailed with a raised hand or by standing at a taxi stand.
Boro taxi
Boro taxis (or boro cab) are taxicabs of New York City, taxicabs in New York City that are allowed to pick up passengers (street hails or calls) in Borough (New York City), outer boroughs (excluding John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGu ...
s in "apple green" color can be hailed only in the
outer boroughs
New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City the largest U.S. municipality situated in mult ...
(except at the airports) and in the northern part of Manhattan, specifically above 96th street on the east side and above 110th street on the west side.
Before 2011, a cab's availability was indicated by the lights on the top of the car. When no lights were lit, the cab would be occupied by passengers. When just the center light showing the medallion number was lit, the cab would be empty and available. When the OFF and DUTY inscriptions to either side of the medallion number were lit, with the medallion number off, the cab would be off duty and not accepting passengers. However, when the OFF and DUTY inscriptions were lit and the medallion number was still lit, the cab would be off duty but the driver could choose to pick up passengers heading in the same direction as the driver. In fall 2011, the TLC announced a plan to replace the three-light system with a simple indicator as to whether the taxi is available. In 2012, the TLC simplified the light system further, with a lit roof light indicating that the taxi is available and an unlit light indicating that the taxi is not available, regardless of whether it has passengers or is simply off duty. It also started fining drivers $100 for picking up passengers without the light on, except for if the driver is picking up their last passenger of their shift.
As with livery cabs, there is an additional round amber light mounted on the left side of the trunk, as well as an amber light at the front of the cab, usually hidden from view behind the grille. When activated by the driver, these "trouble lights" blink to summon the police.
A maximum of four passengers may be carried in most cabs, although larger minivans may accommodate five passengers, and one child under seven can sit on an adult’s lap in the back seat if the maximum has been reached. Drivers are required to pick up the first or closest passenger they see, and may not refuse a trip to a destination anywhere within the five boroughs, neighboring
Westchester or
Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
, or
Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Count ...
. The TLC undertakes
undercover operation
To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...
s to ensure cabbies do not engage in
racial profiling
Racial profiling or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting, targeting or discriminating against a person on the basis of their ethnicity, religion or nationality, rather than on individual suspicion or available evidence. Racial profiling involv ...
or otherwise discriminate against passengers hailing cabs.
There are
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
s designed to help people find, hail, and share cabs in New York City:
*In March 2010,
Sense Networks released CabSense. The iPhone/Android phone app uses location data collected from the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to predict which corners in New York City are best for finding and hailing a cab at any given hour of any given day of the week.
* Carmel released its
Mobile App
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
in 2012, allowing customers to order car service in all of New York City. The app complies with all state rules and has won the Taxi and Limousine Commission's approval.
* The
Hailo
Hailo was a British technology platform that matched taxi drivers and passengers through its mobile phone application. Founded in London in 2011, the Hailo taxi service was available in 16 cities (as of December 2013).
By May 2013, Hailo had ena ...
app, using technology by
VeriFone
Verifone is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida. Verifone provides technology for electronic payment transactions and value-added services at the point-of-sale. Verifone sells merchant-operated, consume ...
allows users to hail taxicabs and automatic accept payments (including tips) using their smartphones.
* The
GetTaxi
Gett, previously known as GetTaxi, is an Israeli B2B Ground Transportation Management (GTM) platform and marketplace, and B2C ride-hailing app headquartered in London, and owned by GT GetTaxi (UK) Limited
Founded in 2010, Gett has raised mo ...
or Gett app allows users to call taxis to their location and pay automatically through the app. Gett also offers $10 rides within Central Manhattan.
The majority of electronic hails in 2016 came from northern Brooklyn; the
Upper East and
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
s of Manhattan;
Astoria, Queens
Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...
; and
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood on the East Side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is roughly defined as the area east of the Bowery and Third Avenue, between 14th Street on the north and Houston Street on the south. The East Villag ...
.
In 2015, the TLC recorded 7 million trips in the 541 wheelchair-accessible vehicles, up from 6 million in the previous year.
Fares
, fares begin at $2.50 ($3.00 between 8:00 p.m. and 6:00 am, and $3.50 during the peak weekday hours of 4:00–8:00 p.m.) and increase based on the distance traveled and time spent in slow traffic (50 cents for each one-fifth of a mile or each 50 seconds stopped or traveling under 12 miles an hour).
An additional 50¢ tax is added to all trips within New York City. For trips to
Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
and
Westchester counties, fare is the metered rate from the point of origin to the city limit, then twice the metered rate from the city limit to the destination. All trips between Manhattan and
John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
are charged a flat rate of $52. All trips to
Newark Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Count ...
are charged the metered rate plus $17.50. The passenger also has to pay for any portion of the trip where the cab is driven on a toll road. The taxi must have an
E-ZPass
E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agencie ...
tag, and passengers pay the discounted E-ZPass toll rates.
Fares at the end of 2022. Under the new plan, fares begin at $3.00. An additional surcharge of $2.50 during weekday rush hours, and a surcharge of $1 during overnight hours. In addition, all trips between Manhattan and JFK Airport charged a flat rate of $70, and all trips to or from LaGuardia Airport will be charged the metered rate plus $5.
In 1999, 241 million passengers rode in New York taxis. The average cab fare in 2000 was $6; passengers paid a total of over $1 billion in fares that year.
By 2006, the number had remained unchanged at about 240 million annual passengers.
According to an April 2011 study by the ''
Chicago Dispatcher
''Chicago Dispatcher'' is a monthly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, that focuses on news and features that affect taxi drivers and the taxi industry as a whole. ''Chicago Dispatcher'' was founded in February 2002 and is published by Chicago entre ...
'', New York City taxis have a relatively low standard fare, charging an estimated $14.10 for a distance of five miles and five minutes' wait time (compared to an estimated $18.48 in
West Hollywood
West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. It is considered one of the most ...
and $12.87 in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
). Taxi drivers are not permitted to use cell phones while transporting passengers, even if they use a hands-free headset, although this is widely ignored by drivers. , drivers earned an average of $158 after a 12-hour shift,
but this figure has declined in the succeeding years, given that an increasing number of medallions have been leased since then.
History
Medallion taxis
Late 1890s
![Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-1126-500, Kraftdroschke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1990-1126-500%2C_Kraftdroschke.jpg)
The first taxicab company in New York City was the Samuel's
Electric Carriage and Wagon Company
Electricity is the set of physics, physical Phenomenon, phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagne ...
(E.C.W.C.), which began running 12
electric
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
hansom cab
The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn carriage designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, ...
s in July 1897.
The company ran until 1898 with up to 62 cabs operating until it was reformed by its financiers to form the
Electric Vehicle Company
Electric Vehicle Company was an American automobile holding company and early pioneering manufacturer of automobiles.
History
The Electric Vehicle Company was founded September 27, 1897 as a holding company of battery-powered electric vehicle ...
. The company then built the
Electrobat
The Electrobat was one of the first electric automobiles. It was designed and built in 1894 by mechanical engineer Henry G. Morris and chemist Pedro G. Salom in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
History
Both Morris and Salom had backgrounds in batt ...
electric car, and had up to 100 taxicabs running in total by 1899.
1899 also saw a number of notable firsts for the Electric Vehicle Company. On May 20, 1899, Jacob German, driving an electric taxicab received the first speeding ticket in the United States. Later that year, on September 13,
Henry Bliss became the first victim of an automotive accident in the United States when he was hit by an electric taxicab as he was helping a friend from a
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
.
By the early 1900s the Electric Vehicle Company was running up to 1,000 electric taxicabs on the streets of New York City until, in January 1907, a fire destroyed 300 of these vehicles, which, in conjunction with the
Panic of 1907
The Panic of 1907, also known as the 1907 Bankers' Panic or Knickerbocker Crisis, was a financial crisis that took place in the United States over a three-week period starting in mid-October, when the New York Stock Exchange fell almost 50% from ...
caused the company to collapse.
Early 20th century
![Old checker cab](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Old_checker_cab.jpg)
In 1907, following the collapse of the
Electric Vehicle Company
Electric Vehicle Company was an American automobile holding company and early pioneering manufacturer of automobiles.
History
The Electric Vehicle Company was founded September 27, 1897 as a holding company of battery-powered electric vehicle ...
, horse-drawn cabs once again became a primary means of transport around New York City. In early 1907 Harry N. Allen, incensed after being charged five dollars () for a journey of , decided "to start a
axicabservice in New York and charge so-much per mile." Later that year he imported 65 gasoline-powered cars from France and began the New York Taxicab Company. The cabs were originally painted red and green, but Allen repainted them all yellow to be visible from a distance. By 1908 the company was running 700 taxicabs.
Within a decade several more companies opened business and taxicabs began to proliferate. The fare was 50 cents a mile (), a rate only affordable to the relatively wealthy.
By the 1920s, automobile manufacturers like
General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
and the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...
began operating fleets. The most successful manufacturer, however, was the
Checker Cab Manufacturing Company
Checker Motors Corporation was a Kalamazoo, Michigan, Automotive industry, vehicle manufacturer and tier-one subcontractor that manufactured taxicabs used by Checker Taxi. Morris Markin established the company in 1922, initially named the Check ...
. Founded by
Morris Markin
Morris Markin (russian: Морис Маркин) (July 15, 1893 – July 8, 1970) was a Russian-born American businessman who founded the Checker Cab Manufacturing Company (which would later become the Checker Motors Corporation).
Early years
B ...
, Checker Cabs produced large
yellow and black taxis that became the most common taxis in New York City.
1930s
During the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, New York had as many as 30,000 cab drivers. With more drivers than passengers, cab drivers were working longer hours, which led to growing public concern over the maintenance and mechanical integrity of taxi vehicles. To resolve these issues, the city considered creating a taxi monopoly, but the plan was abandoned after New York City Mayor
Jimmy Walker
James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Beau James, was mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. A flamboyant politician, he was a liberal Democrat and part of the powerful Tammany Hall machine. He was forced t ...
was accused of accepting a bribe from the Parmelee Company, the largest taxi company.
In 1937, Mayor
Fiorello H. La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...
signed the Haas Act, which introduced official taxi licenses and the medallion system that remains in place today. The law limited the total number of cab licenses to 16,900, but the number dwindled to 11,787 licenses, staying equal over the next six decades.
In 1949, several thousand
taxicab workers went on strike during an organization effort by the United Mine Workers. The strike lasted approximately 1 week and ended in failure for the strikers.
1960s
In the 1960s, New York City experienced many of the problems other cities did. Crime and racial tensions increased. As a result, a quickly growing industry of private livery services emerged, commonly referred to as "car services". Unofficial drivers were barred from picking up people on the street, but they readily found business in under-served neighborhoods.
In 1967, New York City ordered all "medallion taxis" be painted yellow to help cut down on unofficial drivers and make official taxicabs more readily recognizable.
The wife of the president of New Departure, Nettie Rockwell, particularly liked the color yellow and it therefore became the color of the new Rockwell taxicabs. The Rockwell Service Cab became the Yellow Taxicab when Mrs. Rockwell selected that as her choice of color for the auto.
1970s
The
New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
(TLC) was established in 1971 with jurisdiction over the city's medallion (yellow) taxicabs, livery cabs, "black cars", commuter vans,
paratransit
Paratransit is the term used in North America, also known by other names such as community transport ( UK) for transportation services that supplement fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. ...
vehicles (
ambulettes), and some luxury limousines. Its predecessor was the New York City Hack Bureau, operated under the aegis of the
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
. TLC Inspectors are
New York State peace officers.
![Dodge Polara and other Yellow Cabs in 1973 (NYC)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Dodge_Polara_and_other_Yellow_Cabs_in_1973_%28NYC%29.jpg)
In the 1970s and 1980s,
crime in New York City
Crime rates in New York City have been recorded since at least the 1800s. They have spiked ever since the post-war period. The highest crime totals were recorded in the late 1980s and early 1990s as the crack epidemic surged, and then declined c ...
had become extremely severe. Cabbies were often robbed, injured, or murdered. Despite widespread use of bullet-resistant taxi partitions, introduced in 1967,
seven cab drivers were killed and 3,000 were robbed in the first nine months of 1970. The response from regulators was to contend that "continued violent crime against cab drivers" (despite partition mandates) merited a new "lock-box" requirement. That requirement was abandoned, quietly, after it was realized that in response, the cabs themselves in the city were being stolen.
By the mid-1970s, there was a shortage in drivers, and as many as one-fifth of taxicabs were in the garage at any given time. Drivers only needed to take a test to show proof that they understood English; demonstrate knowledge of 29 major corridors and 168 routes to popular landmarks; and be able to point out the locations of ten to fifteen landmarks, using a geographical directory provided during the test. Despite the fact that many potential applicants did not know locations outside Manhattan well, almost all applicants passed the test. By 1975, although the TLC was issuing 40,000 licenses yearly, there was a high proportion of new drivers: less than one-third of the 40,000 licenses were those being renewed by cab drivers who were already working, while two-thirds of the licenses were issued to new drivers.
1980s
From the mid-1980s into the 1990s, demographics changed among cabbies as new waves of immigrants arrived to New York City. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, of the 62,000 cab drivers in New York City, 82% were foreign born: 23% being from the Caribbean (the
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...
and
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
) and 30% being from South Asia (
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
).
["The Changing Face of Taxi and Limousine Drivers"](_blank)
Schaller Consulting. Accessed October 3, 2007.
Throughout the 1980s, working conditions for cabbies changed as crime in New York City was curtailed. Additionally, the cost of medallion licenses increased and fewer cabbies owned their taxicabs.
In 1982, production of the iconic Checker Taxi Cab ceased although many remained in operation. The Chevrolet Caprice and Ford Crown Victoria became the industry's top choices, with formerly used police cruisers providing a steady supply for cab fleets.
1990s
![NYC Taxi Ford Crown Victoria](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/NYC_Taxi_Ford_Crown_Victoria.jpg)
On October 26, 1993, thousands of taxi drivers used their taxis to block traffic in protest at the number of taxi drivers who had been murdered:
35 taxi drivers had been murdered so far that year,
and 45 had been killed the previous year.
Laws since 1996 require that taxis be replaced every six years regardless of condition; this was increased to seven years in 2015, though some taxis are exempt for historical significance. In December 1996,
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
ceased making the
Caprice
Caprice, from the Italian ''capriccio'', may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* ''Caprice'' (1913 film), a film starring Mary Pickford
* ''Caprices'' (film), a 1942 French comedy film
* ''Caprice'' (1967 film), a film starring Richard Harris ...
, with the last Caprice 9C6 taxi packages being in service until the early 2000s. The
Ford Crown Victoria
The Ford Crown Victoria ("Crown Vic") is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 to 2012 model years. The Ford ...
became the most widely used sedan for yellow cabs in New York. In October 2012,
Hurricane Sandy
Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...
flooded dozens of Crown Victoria taxi cabs, though approximately six are still in service as of December 2021. In addition, yellow cab operators also used the
Honda Odyssey Honda Odyssey can refer to three motor vehicles manufactured by Honda:
* Honda Odyssey (ATV), an all-terrain vehicle (1977—1989)
* Honda Odyssey (minivan), a brand of two different Honda minivan models for different markets
** Honda Odyssey (inte ...
,
Isuzu Oasis
For the North American market, the Honda Odyssey, is a minivan manufactured and marketed by Japanese automaker Honda since 1994, now in its fifth generation, which began in 2018.
The Odyssey had originally been conceived and engineered in Japan, ...
,
Chevrolet Venture
The Chevrolet Venture is a minivan produced by General Motors for the 1997 to 2005 model years. The Chevrolet Venture, along with most of its General Motors minivan siblings, was built at GM's Doraville, Georgia, assembly plant.
Use of name
Th ...
,
Ford Freestar
The Ford Windstar (later the Ford Freestar and Mercury Monterey) is a minivan that was produced and sold by Ford. The replacement for the Ford Aerostar, the Windstar adopted the front-wheel drive configuration of the Chrysler minivans. From the ...
, and
Toyota Sienna
The Toyota Sienna is a minivan manufactured and marketed by Toyota primarily for the North American and select East Asian markets. It is named for the Italian city of Siena, in the region of Tuscany. It replaced the first generation Previa van ...
minivans, which offer increased passenger room. The distinctive
Checker Taxi
Checker Taxi was a dominant taxicab company and national franchisor that was based in Chicago, Illinois. Checker Motors was an American vehicle manufacturer based in Kalamazoo, Michigan that built the iconic Checker Taxicab, sold commercially ...
cabs were, due to their durable construction, phased out slowly. The last one was retired in July 1999, after more than 20 years in service and with nearly one million miles on its odometer.
The same year, the TLC began ''Operation Refusal'', an undercover
sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...
created to address the alleged phenomenon of service refusal. In 1998, the TLC enacted a package of regulatory reforms, inspired by Mayor
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
, that included a structured framework of enhanced driver standards. In 1999, actor
Danny Glover
Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films include ...
filed a complaint with the TLC, after he was allegedly refused service by New York cab drivers. This resulted in a highly publicized Operation Refusal crackdown on drivers who were allegedly discriminating against certain passengers, sometimes for race, but far more often because of the passenger's destination.
Many cabdrivers protested the new regulations sought by the Giuliani administration. In 1998, their activity formed the basis of a new taxidrivers'
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. Under the leadership of
Bhairavi Desai, the union grew to fifteen thousand members (2011 estimate), representing almost one-third of all licensed cabdrivers in the city. Giuliani's crackdowns also led to a series of successful lawsuits against the city and the TLC. In 2000, a federal judge ruled that the NYPD had violated taxi drivers'
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
rights by refusing to let the drivers engage in a peaceful protest of new rules. The TLC also lost a series of cases in state courts, for implementing rules without allowing for notice and comment. In 2000, another federal judge ruled that the Operation Refusal sting violated cabbies' due process rights. In 2004, TLC inspectors were embarrassed when they handcuffed and arrested ''60 Minutes'' reporter
Mike Wallace
Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...
, charging him with disorderly conduct for allegedly having acted aggressively toward a TLC Inspector in defense of his driver. In 2006, the city was forced to settle the remaining aspects of the Operation Refusal case. Under the settlement, the TLC agreed to pay a group of 500 taxi drivers $7 million.
In order to encourage greater use of passenger seat belts to prevent partition-related injuries, the TLC instituted the "Celebrity Talking Taxi" program in 1997, using celebrity audio messages to urge passengers to buckle up and take a receipt at the ride's conclusion. The messages proved largely unpopular with both drivers and riders, as the TLC learned after conducting an online survey about the program in the fall of 2002. On the strength of those results, the Commission officially terminated the program in February 2003.
In 1996, the number of medallions changed for the first time in 60 years. The TLC added 133 new licenses, bringing the total to 11,920.
Since 1996, more medallions have been added to the fleet, bringing the total number of cab licenses to 13,237 as of 2009.
2000s to present
=Changes to cabs
=
In 2005, New York introduced incentives to replace its current yellow cabs with electric hybrid vehicles such as the
Toyota Prius
The is a car built by Toyota which has a Hybrid vehicle drivetrain, hybrid drivetrain, combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor. Initially offered as a four-door Sedan (automobile), sedan, it has been produced only as ...
and
Ford Escape Hybrid
The Ford Escape is a compact crossover SUV sold by Ford since 2000 over four generations. The first generation was jointly developed with Mazda which also created the Mazda Tribute and Mercury Mariner as the twin model. Second generations of t ...
. In May 2007, New York City Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
proposed a five-year plan to switch New York City's taxicabs to more fuel-efficient
hybrid vehicles
A hybrid vehicle is one that uses two or more distinct types of power, such as submarines that use diesel when surfaced and batteries when submerged. Other means to store energy include pressurized fluid in hydraulic hybrids.
The basic princip ...
as part of an agenda for New York City to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...
. However, the plan was dropped after cab companies complained that the cost of maintaining the new hybrid vehicles vastly outweighed the tiny amount of fuel savings they got from going smaller. Proponents of the traditional
Lincoln Town Car
The Lincoln Town Car is a model line of full-size luxury sedans that was marketed by the Lincoln division of the American automaker Ford Motor Company. Deriving its name from a limousine body style, Lincoln marketed the Town Car from 1981 to ...
and
Ford Crown Victoria
The Ford Crown Victoria ("Crown Vic") is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 to 2012 model years. The Ford ...
say they were well suited to their task, while others said customers who cared for the environment preferred hybrids.
Not only that, but passenger safety also became an issue with the newer vehicles, and 6 months after the program took effect, it was dropped. Still, the proportion of the taxi fleet made up of Crown Victorias has dropped over time. In 2010, it stood at about 60% of yellow cabs, as the number of Ford Escape Hybrid and
Toyota Sienna
The Toyota Sienna is a minivan manufactured and marketed by Toyota primarily for the North American and select East Asian markets. It is named for the Italian city of Siena, in the region of Tuscany. It replaced the first generation Previa van ...
minivans kept rising.
The percentage of Crown Victoria taxis in the city would be further undercut by the adoption of the similarly sized
Toyota Camry Hybrid
The Toyota Camry (XV50) is a mid-size car produced by Toyota from August 2011 to March 2019. Replacing the XV40 series, the XV50 represents the seventh generation of the Toyota Camry in all markets outside Japan, which follows a different genera ...
s since 2010, and the
Toyota Prius V
The Toyota Prius ''v'' (for versatile), also named Prius α (pronounced as Alpha) in Japan, and Prius+ in Europe and Singapore, is a hybrid gasoline-electric automobile produced by Toyota introduced in Japan in May 2011, in the U.S. in October 2 ...
. By 2015, the Ford Crown Victoria fleet would be nearly entirely replaced.
Originally, before October 2007, NYC Yellow cabs displayed the fare stickers in the front doors and the words "NYC Taxi" and the medallion number on the back doors. On September 30, 2007, all of the yellow cab decals were redesigned. The cabs were easily identified with the medallion number followed with a checker pattern on the left and right rear fenders, a futuristic fare panel on the rear doors, and a retro "NYC Taxi" logo on the front doors, with a yellow T in a black circle. In August 2012, the TLC phased out the design in favor of one that drops the "axi," leaving only the NYC logo and the circle-T. The detailed fare information on the rear doors was also replaced, replaced with a simple statement of a metered rate unless traveling to
JFK Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Avia ...
, where a flat fare is charged.
The TLC also mandated that by the end of January 2008 all taxis should be equipped with a Passenger Information Monitor that is a screen in the backseat that can provide entertainment, a live
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...
map of location, and be used to pay for rides by swiping a credit card. The drivers will have an electronic Driver Information Monitor in which messages can be sent to them informing them of traffic conditions and facilitating retrieving lost objects.
[Medallion Taxicab Technology Enhancements](_blank)
– nyc.gov – Retrieved November 9, 2007 Several taxicab drivers objecting to the cost of the devices (estimated at between $3,000 and $5,000 each)
staged voluntary strikes on September 5 and 6 and October 22 in 2007. The city implemented a "zone pricing" structure during the days and the strikes had minimal impact on the city according to officials.
, New York City had around 4,300
hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
taxis, representing almost 33% of the 13,237 taxis in service, and about 6,000 by September 2012, representing 59% of the taxis in service—the most in any city in North America.
By mid-2009, owners began retiring their original hybrid fleets after they accumulated between 300,000 and 350,000 miles per vehicle.
Two attempts by the Bloomberg administration to implement policies to force the replacement of all 13,000 New York taxis for hybrids by 2012 were blocked by court rulings,
and on February 28, 2011, the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
declined to consider an appeal by the city.
=Taxi of Tomorrow
=
In 2007, city officials outlined a project to replace existing
Ford Crown Victoria
The Ford Crown Victoria ("Crown Vic") is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 to 2012 model years. The Ford ...
taxis—which were discontinued in 2011—and other taxis by 2014. In mid-2011, the TLC was to award an exclusive contract to sell and service taxicabs in New York City for 10 years.
Karsan
Karsan ( tr, Karsan Otomotiv Sanayii ve Ticaret A.Ş. English: Karsan Automotive Industry and Trade Joint-Stock Company) is a Turkish commercial vehicles manufacturer, based in Akçalar, Nilüfer, Bursa Province. "Karsan" is an acronym for "Kar ...
,
Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
, and
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
's bids were the three finalists, and all of their designs were based on small vans rather than sedans. The Karsan design was favorite among the New Yorkers. However, later was rejected due to doubts whether the company could "execute the project". In the end, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the Nissan design as the winner to replace the city's 13,000 yellow cabs, to be phased in over five years starting in 2013.
File:Karsan NYC.jpg, alt=Karsan V-1, Karsan
Karsan ( tr, Karsan Otomotiv Sanayii ve Ticaret A.Ş. English: Karsan Automotive Industry and Trade Joint-Stock Company) is a Turkish commercial vehicles manufacturer, based in Akçalar, Nilüfer, Bursa Province. "Karsan" is an acronym for "Kar ...
V-1
Rejected
File:NYC taxi of tomorrow 2014 NY Auto Show.jpg, alt=Ford Otosan Transit Connect, Ford Transit Connect
The Ford Transit Connect is a compact panel van sold by Ford since 2002. Developed by Ford of Europe, the model line replaced sedan-based vans ( Ford Escort and Ford Courier vans) with a dedicated commercial vehicle platform. The model lin ...
Rejected
File:NYC Taxi Nissan NV200.jpg, alt=Nissan NV200, Nissan NV200
The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009.
Overview
The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by ...
Winner
As of August 2013, manufacturing had begun in Cuernavaca, Mexico, where the stock NV200 is also assembled. Design features include room for four passengers, a transparent roof panel, independently controlled rear air conditioning, active carbon-lined headliner to help neutralize interior odors, along with antimicrobial easy-to-clean seat fabric, overhead reading lights, floor lighting, a mobile charging station, including a 12-volt electrical outlet and two USB ports, a flat passenger floor, a "low-annoyance" horn with exterior lights that indicate honking, hearing loop system, intercom and exterior lights that signal when door is opening.
In 2011, New York City was sued by United Spinal Association for choosing an inaccessible "taxi of tomorrow". The Justice Department issued a "Statement of Interest", which was sent to the NY Federal District court, stating that, if the city did not mandate a wheelchair accessible taxi as the "taxi of tomorrow", it would be in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. On November 3–5, 2011, at the TLC's public design expo inviting the public to try out parked prototypes, the Taxis For All Campaign mounted a "Roll-In" protest. Under the eye of news media outside the Flatiron Building on Broadway at Fifth Avenue, wheelchair users tried in vain to use the future cabs. Mayor Bloomberg's sustained initiative to amend the law, so that licensed livery cabs may pick up street hails just as yellow medallion cabs do, requires the Governor's approval; but Governor
Andrew Cuomo
Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...
opposes the City's choice of a non-wheelchair-accessible yellow cab. Thus, a compromise plan was announced in December 2011: the next 4,000 new medallions must go to accessible cabs, and the Governor will ratify the Mayor's initiative to let livery cars compete for street hails.
A fully electric version of the
Nissan NV200
The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009.
Overview
The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by ...
van may be available by 2017. However, to test the concept, Nissan is sponsoring a pilot program with six
Nissan Leaf
The , stylized as LEAF, is a Compact car, compact five-door hatchback battery electric vehicle, battery electric vehicle (BEV) manufactured by Nissan. It was introduced in Japan and the United States in December 2010, and its second generation w ...
electric car
An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quie ...
s and their
charging station
A charging station, also known as a charge point or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a piece of equipment that supplies electrical power for charging plug-in electric vehicles (including electric cars, electric trucks, electric ...
s, deployed to study the use of
zero-emission Zero emission refers to an engine, motor, process, or other energy source, that emits no waste products that pollute the environment or disrupt the climate.
Zero emission engines
Vehicles and other mobile machinery used for transport (over land, se ...
electric vehicles as taxis. The Leafs were initially scheduled to be deployed in 2012, one year before the
Nissan NV200
The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009.
Overview
The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by ...
s taxis were scheduled to be introduced. The pilot program was launched in April 2013, and by June 2013, only four Leafs are providing cab service in the city.
Still, , the number of new NV200 cabs in New York City remained low.
The deployment of the city's Taxi of Tomorrow would result in almost all the existing fleet, of which about 6,000 are
hybrid electric vehicles
A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) system with an electric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). The presence of the electric powertrain is intended ...
, to be replaced within 3 years with the non hybrid
Nissan NV200
The Nissan NV200 is a light commercial and leisure activity, 4/5-door van designed and produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2009.
Overview
The vehicle was previewed as the NV200 Concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, followed by ...
passenger van. Only about 1,000 taxis will be exempted for various reasons, such as 273 taxis whose medallions require that they be high-mileage vehicles.
However, in early 2013 the Greater New York Taxi Association filed suit against the city arguing that the Taxi of Tomorrow plan violates a section of the city’s administrative code because the Nissan NV200 is not a hybrid. In May 2013 a State Supreme Court judge blocked the Bloomberg administration’s plan for introducing the Taxi of Tomorrow, ruling that indeed it violated a New York City provision requiring a hybrid option for taxi operators. City officials did not challenge the judge’s ruling. In June 2013, the Taxi and Limousine Commission approved an adjusted set of rules in an effort to introduce the Taxi of Tomorrow as scheduled by October 2013. According to the adjusted rules, only hybrids with a large interior of at least will be permitted. Taxi operators complained that the only compliant hybrids are prohibitively expensive. A spokesman for the commission noted that the
Toyota Prius v
The Toyota Prius ''v'' (for versatile), also named Prius α (pronounced as Alpha) in Japan, and Prius+ in Europe and Singapore, is a hybrid gasoline-electric automobile produced by Toyota introduced in Japan in May 2011, in the U.S. in October 2 ...
is available for , about less than the NV200. The two other hybrids, which comply with the rule, are the
Lexus RX450h () and the
Toyota Highlander Hybrid
The Toyota Highlander, also known as the , is a mid-size crossover SUV with three-row seating produced by Toyota since 2000.
Announced in April 2000 at the New York International Auto Show and arriving in late 2000 in Japan and January 2001 in ...
().
Street hail livery vehicles (boro taxis)
![Toyota Sienna boro TAXI](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/Toyota_Sienna_boro_TAXI.jpg)
Historically, only yellow medallion taxicabs were permitted to pick up passengers in response to a street hail. The TLC also regulates and licenses
for-hire vehicles, known as "car services" or "livery cabs," which are prohibited from picking up street hails (although this rule is less often enforced in the boroughs outside Manhattan) and are supposed to pick up only those customers who have called the car service's dispatcher and requested a car. Following state legislation passed in 2011, the TLC voted in April 2012 to allow livery cabs to be licensed to make street pick-ups in the outer boroughs and northern Manhattan, a rule in effect starting in summer 2012. The implementation was held up with litigation, but on June 6, 2013, the New York State Court of Appeals, the State's highest court, found that the regulation of taxicabs was a compelling state interest, and that therefore the New York Legislature had acted within its rights when it authorized the new class of taxis.
The Taxi and Limousine Commission plans to authorize up to 6,000 cabs per year for three years, ultimately creating a total of 18,000 green taxis.
They first appeared in August 2013.
Participating drivers must have their car painted and the Taxi logo and information printed, and also the affiliated base on the rear sides, and cameras, meters and GPS added. The GPS will not allow the meter to work if the cab is starting in Manhattan below East 96th or West 110th streets, and in the airports.
Color
The
New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
has enforced strict requirements for the color of medallion taxicabs since the late 1960s. According to the ''Rules of New York City'', "The exterior of the vehicle must be painted taxi yellow (Dupont M6284 or its equivalent), except for trim. Samples of paint color and shade are to be submitted to the commission for approval." The specified M6284 paint code is actually a
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
code for
school bus yellow
School bus yellow is a color that was specifically formulated for use on school buses in North America in 1939. Originally officially named National School Bus Chrome, the color is now officially known in Canada and the U.S. as National School ...
.
Approved taxi models
![NYC Toyota Prius v](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/NYC_Toyota_Prius_v.jpg)
, there are several approved models for use as New York City medallion taxis.
There is no restriction on the makes and models for boro taxis.
Approved vehicles must have air conditioning for the backseat rows, as well as sufficient space to install the partition behind the front row.
While medallion taxicabs in the city are always yellow and boro taxis are green, car service vehicles may be any color but yellow; they are usually black and are sometimes called "black car" services.
Despite the ''
de jure
In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...
'' prohibition on picking up passengers who hail on the street, some livery cabs nevertheless do so anyway, often to make extra money. When a livery cab engages in street pick-ups, it becomes known as a "
gypsy cab."
They are often found in areas not routinely visited by medallion cabs, and authorities tend to ignore the practice rather than leave sections of the city without cab service.
Crash test
As of 2012, New York taxis are only crash-tested before being equipped as a cab. However, the new "Taxi of Tomorrow", the Nissan NV200, would also have its partition be crash-tested while installed inside the vehicle.
Medallions
![NYC taxicab medallion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/NYC_taxicab_medallion.jpg)
Medallion taxicabs are named after the
medallion
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
issued by the TLC and attached to a taxi’s hood. , there were 51,398 individuals licensed to drive medallion taxicabs. There were 13,605 taxicab medallion licenses in existence. Taxicab vehicles, each of which must have a
medallion
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
to operate, are driven an average of per shift. The average total number of annual taxi passengers is 241 million. By July 2016, that number had dropped slightly to 13,587 medallions, or 18 lower than the 2014 total.
However, the number of drivers in April 2016 had plummeted to 30,488, caused by an exodus of drivers who went to drive for
ride-sharing
Carpooling (also car-sharing, ride-sharing and lift-sharing) is the sharing of car journeys so that more than one person travels in a car, and prevents the need for others to have to drive to a location themselves.
By having more people usi ...
services such as Uber and Lyft.
Numbering system
There are currently 13,347 regular medallions, running from 1A10 to 9Y99, and including 136 SBV ("Standby vehicle") licenses, and TLC1 and TLC3. The letter series runs from 10 to 99, then advances to the next letter, skipping I, O, Q, R, S, X, Z. After Y, the first digit advances. Most cabs continue to bear
license plates
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificat ...
with a variation of the medallion number, but new issues from March 2018 in the format Y123456C with standby vehicles in the format S123456V. The numbers assigned to
boro taxi
Boro taxis (or boro cab) are taxicabs of New York City, taxicabs in New York City that are allowed to pick up passengers (street hails or calls) in Borough (New York City), outer boroughs (excluding John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGu ...
s are not medallion numbers, but they are TLC Street Hail Livery license numbers that consist of two letters followed by three numbers. The two letters progress in alphabetical order from right to left: the "AA" series is issued first, then "AB", "AC", all the way to "AZ", at which point the letters progress to "BA", "BB", "BC", etc. The license plates retain the previous numbers as a livery cab.
The
New York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
operates a fleet of five undercover taxis. These vehicles operate with medallions beginning with either 2W or 6Y.
Logistics
Medallions were first issued in 1937 when the city created a licensing scheme, setting the number of cabs at 11,787. This number remained fixed until 1996.
Because the medallion system artificially restricts the number of cabs, it has been criticized as an entry barrier to the New York City taxi market that has in turn created a black market for
illegal taxicab operation
Illegal taxicabs, sometimes known as pirate taxis, gypsy cabs, or jitney cabs, are taxicabs and other for-hire vehicles that are not duly licensed or permitted by the jurisdiction in which they operate. Most major cities worldwide require taxicabs ...
in areas underserved by medallion cabs. Because the cost of leasing a medallion is so high, the system cuts into the income of drivers and raise costs for the passengers. On the other hand, some transportation analysts contend that cities with no barriers to entry to the taxi market end up with an abundance of poorly maintained taxis. They say that a medallion system helps the city to better regulate taxis and enables the city to raise the standards of all taxis.
Medallions are sold from the City at infrequent auctions, or by a medallion owner. They increased in price from around $2,500 in 1947 to $280,000 in 2004.
The medallions, which could be sold for a $10 renewal fee during the 1930s, are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, with fleet medallions topping $1,000,000 in 2011.
In 2013–2014, values were around $1 million
to $1.3 million.
By comparison, in 2004, a taxi driver had an average yearly gross revenue of $90,747 and a net income of $49,532.
Because of the historically high prices, most medallions (and most cabs) are owned by investment companies and are leased to drivers ("hacks"). An investigation by ''The New York Times'' showed that investment companies and banks specializing in medallion loans engaged in
predatory lending Predatory lending refers to unethical practices conducted by lending organizations during a loan origination process that are unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent. While there are no internationally agreed legal definitions for predatory lending, a 2006 ...
to drivers, mainly immigrants, who would be unable to repay the loans with high interest rates and exorbitant fees.
An auction was held in 2006 where 308 new medallions were sold. In the 2006 auction, 254 were designated as hybrid taxis and 54 were designated as
ADA-accessible
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ...
taxis.
Between November 2013 and February 2014, the city auctioned 368 new medallions, all of which was earmarked for use with a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.
Over the years, many medallions once owned by individual drivers were sold to large taxi fleets. , about 18% of all taxis were owner operated, while the rest were leased;
this is a decline from the 29% ownership rate in 2006.
Additionally, some taxi drivers might begin their shifts by owing money to the taxi fleet companies that hire them, so they may spend a substantial amount of their day trying to earn a net profit.
Medallion values and debt forgiveness
![NYTWA protest at City Hall (93809)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/NYTWA_protest_at_City_Hall_%2893809%29.jpg)
Starting in 2014,
medallion prices dropped considerably, likely due to competition from ride-share services.
, medallion prices had dropped to around $500,000 in value, with one medallion dropping to $250,000.
Because of the decline in medallion prices, many taxi drivers started working for ride-sharing services instead.
There was also a decrease in taxi usage: in November 2016, there were 336,737 daily trips that netted $4.98 million, a decrease from the 463,701 daily trips netting $5.17 million in November 2010.
However, in mid-2016, after a five-year decline, taxi usage began to increase again.
Due to this competition, medallion owners sued the city and Uber in November 2015. By 2017, the 60,000 rideshare vehicles in New York City outnumbered the city's medallion vehicles at a ratio of almost 4 to 1,
and many medallion owners faced the prospect of bankruptcy or severe debt because of the low medallion prices, which few entities were willing to buy.
Medallion holders had trouble making payments on the loans that they borrowed to pay for the medallions.
This, in turn, led to several high-profile suicides of taxi drivers who had seen decreases in profit due to the proliferation of rideshare vehicles.
In August 2018, the city voted to stop issuing new ride-share licenses for one year, as well as enacted a minimum wage for for-hire vehicle drivers.
The vote was intended to regulate the for-hire vehicle industry and prevent taxi medallion prices from falling further, but Uber and Lyft criticized the restriction, stating that it would have a negative impact on commuters in the outer boroughs.
Marblegate Asset Management, one of the largest lenders to taxi-medallion holders, agreed to forgive $70 million in debt in 2020.
Marblegate, the city government, and the Taxi Workers Alliance agreed in November 2021 to reduce medallion holders' loans to no more than $170,000.
The city launched the Medallion Relief Program in September 2022, forgiving $225 million in debt within one month.
See also
*
Transportation in New York City
The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest subway systems in the wo ...
*
Yellow cab
Yellow cab taxicab operators exist all around the world (some with common heritage, some without). The original Yellow Cab Company, based in Chicago, Illinois, was one of the largest taxicab companies in the United States.
History
Yellow cab ...
Notes
References
Further reading
*
External links
New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taxicabs Of New York City
Transportation in New York City
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...