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Ailing NYC taxi industry sees boost in business after congestion pricing
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Feb 28, 2025
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By
Ramsey Khalifeh
Published Feb 28, 2025
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Congestion pricing has caused a boom for taxi drivers.
New Taxi and Limousine Commission data shows that yellow taxi cabs had a 19% increase in total trips within the toll zone, contributing to the best January for cabbies since the COVID pandemic. Uber and Lyft rides, meanwhile, were down 3.4% in the zone.
Under congestion pricing, cab riders pay a 75 cent surcharge in the zone, while Uber and Lyft riders pay a $1.50 fee per ride.
“We’re still in early days when it comes to determining how congestion pricing will impact TLC’s hard working drivers, but it’s encouraging to see that yellow taxi trips in the Central Business District were up almost 20 percent compared to last year,” said commission spokesperson Jason Kersten in a statement. “That’s good news for the drivers who were hit hard by both the pandemic and the medallion crisis, and who drive the vehicles synonymous with our city.”
The data applies to the “CBD taxi zone,” a commission boundary that aligns closely with the MTA’s Manhattan congestion zone, which tolls drivers who travel south of 60th Street.
Cab drivers said they’ve noticed the bump in business.
“We used to pick up like 15 to 18 fares, but now you could pick up like 20, 21 everyday,” Tursem Singh, who’s been driving his yellow cab for 27 years, said in the East Village. “I’m happy with that.”
Cabbie Tursem Singh said he's noticed an increase in fares since congestion pricing began.
Ramsey Khalifeh
Singh even suggested expanding the congestion zone to 96th street “if they really want to make Manhattan clean.” He said that would help address traffic and more double parking he’s noticed north of 60th Street.
The data represents a rare glimmer of good news for the yellow cab industry, which has been on a downward spiral for more than a decade as ride-share apps like Uber exploded in popularity. The value of medallions — the permit that allows for a driver to operate a taxicab — plummeted from more than $1 million to less than $200,000.
Bhairavi Desai, of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, said that it was too early for cabbies to start praising congestion pricing.
“I think the TLC’s data is a bit skewed. I don’t think there’s any conclusive evidence here that congestion pricing has led to higher trip volume,” Desai said.
She noted that beginning in 2022, Uber allowed customers to hail yellow cabs through its app. She suspected that there was a drop in the number of trip deployments Uber was giving yellow cabs in their app this time last year. The bump in ridership, she said, is just a rebound.
Uber did not respond to an inquiry.
Data shows Uber and Lyft remain popular throughout the city. Uber and Lyft trips were up nearly 4% overall in the five boroughs in January compared to the same period last year, according to the TLC data.
Federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pulled approval of congestion pricing last month. The MTA immediately sued the federal Department of Transportation, arguing the tolls are achieving the goal of reducing congestion in Manhattan and raising revenue for public transit. The feds have told the MTA to turn off the tolls by March 21, but Gov. Kathy Hochul has vowed to keep charging drivers a base fare of $9 until a judge rules otherwise.
Other cab drivers told Gothamist that they’ve gotten more fares since congestion pricing launched on Jan. 5. The MTA’s most recent data shows that travel times at all crossings into Manhattan have sped up by as much as 30% on average, bus speeds are improving and busy crosstown roads like Canal Street are less gridlocked.
“If I make money, I drive 10 hours. But if I don’t make money, I drive more hours,” said cabbie Ernest Desanges, who’s been driving yellow cabs since 1984. “[Now] I drive less because lots of people, they don’t take Uber, they take cabs.”
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transportation
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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