New York City taxi fares about to rise 23%, highest jump in a decade

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission voted Tuesday to raise the pay of cab drivers and hence will boost metered fares 23%, the first such increase since 2012.

Rates for rush hour, overnight and airport-related trips will also rise, as will the per-minute and per-mile rates of for-hire vehicles, such as Uber and Lyft.

“Raising taxi fare rates and minimum pay for high-volume drivers is the right thing to do for our city,” TLC Commissioner David Do said in a statement, according to Bloomberg.

The base rate for a taxi will go from $2.50 to $3, with the unit rate rising from 50 cents to 70 cents. The rush-hour surcharge will go from $1 to $2.50, the overnight surcharge from 50 cents to $1 and the taxi and street hail livery improvement surcharge from 30 cents to $1, according to a presentation from the TLC.

The presentation also denoted new fare changes regarding three NYC-area airports. The flat fare for a trip to John F. Kennedy International Airport is increasing from $52 to $70. 

Taxis to LaGuardia Airport will now have a $5 surcharge, and the surcharge for rides to Newark (N.J.) Liberty International Airport will rise from $17.50 to $20, according to the TLC.

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For-hire vehicle drivers, such as employees of Lyft and Uber, will receive a pay increase of 7% per minute and 24% per mile, according to Bloomberg. Taxi drivers will receive a 33% bump in revenue from the fare hikes, according to the TLC.

Drivers welcomed the pay increase.

“After a year of all drivers having to choose between food and fuel, and a decade of not just stagnation but loss for yellow cab drivers in particular, we’re relieved to see the raise be voted on,” Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, told Bloomberg in a statement.

Brendan Sexton, president of the Independent Drivers Guild that represents some app drivers, told the New York news site Gothamist in a statement, “This increase to the minimum pay is critical and an important step to protect the 80,000 rideshare drivers who keep our city moving.”