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You can learn about fares and rules for yellow and green taxi passengers.

Yellow Taxis pick up street-hailing passengers anywhere in NYC.

Green Taxis pick up street-hailing passengers in NYC except for below East 96th Street and West 110th Street in Manhattan.

You can book trips for both yellow and green taxis through an e-hail app or by calling car service companies. NYC311 does not provide the phone numbers of car service companies. If you need directory assistance, you can search the internet or call 411. If you call 411, your phone service provider may charge you an additional fee.

Learn more about rides in green and yellow taxis.

Taxi drivers must turn on a meter for every ride that isn’t prearranged. The meter is set with a rate code. The total amount you pay is based, in part, on the rate code. You can see the rate code charge on the passenger information screen and your receipt.

The Standard City Rate is Rate Code 1.

Please note that for standard metered trips:

  • Actual fares depend on traffic, weather, and other unforeseen conditions
  • Tips and tolls are not included in the metered rate
  • There is no extra charge for:
    • Multiple passengers
    • Luggage or bags
    • Paying by credit or debit card

Make sure to always take your receipt.

Learn more about taxi rates and fares.

Standard City Rate

  • $3 initial charge
  • $1 Taxicab and Street Hail Livery (SHL) Improvement Surcharge
  • 70 cents for every 1/5 of a mile when traveling above 12 miles per hour or per 60 seconds in slow traffic or when the vehicle is stopped
  • $2.50 rush hour surcharge from 4 PM to 8 PM on weekdays, except for holidays 
  • $1 night surcharge from 8 PM to 6 AM
  • 50 cents MTA State Surcharge for trips ending in NYC or Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Orange, or Putnam Counties
  • NY State Congestion Surcharge for trips that begin, end, or go through Manhattan south of 96th Street:
    • Yellow taxis: $2.50
    • Green taxis: $2.75
    • Shared rides: 75 cents
  • Tips and tolls

Tolls

On trips within NYC, passengers must pay the tolls to the destination. 

Passengers must pay both the tolls to the destination and the driver’s return tolls for the following trips:

  • Westchester and Nassau Counties
  • Newark Airport (EWR)
  • Cross Bay Veterans Bridge
  • Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge
  • Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Drivers must use an E-Z pass when taking a toll bridge or tunnel. Discounted E-Z pass tolls will be added to the passenger fare at the end of the trip. You can’t be charged more than the E-Z Pass charge when passing through a toll.

Prearranged Trips

Meters are not turned on for prearranged trips. Fares for prearranged trips in a green taxi will be determined by the car service and agreed upon by you before the trip begins. This quoted price may not include the price of tolls.

Multiple Stops

For most taxi trips, multiple stops may be requested. There is no limit on how many stops are allowed, but the meter must remain on for the entire trip. The meter cannot be turned off and started again after each stop. You pay the full fare at the last stop. 

Credit Card Machine Broken

A taxi driver must not pick up a passenger if the credit or debit card machine is not working unless they tell the passenger about the machine before turning on the meter. If the passenger agrees to pay the fare with cash, the ride can begin.

  • If the credit or debit card machine does not work, the customer must still pay the fare.
  • If the machine is temporarily not working because the wireless payment system cannot communicate with its network, the driver can drive to a location where there is reception for the network.
  • If the machine is not working for another reason, the passenger should pay the fare using cash. If the passenger does not have cash, the driver can offer to drive to an ATM.

Taxi drivers must turn on a meter for every ride that isn’t prearranged. The meter is set with a rate code. The total amount you pay is based, in part, on the rate code. You can see the rate code charge on the passenger information screen and your receipt.

  • Rate Code 1: Standard City Rate
  • Rate Code 2: Trips between Manhattan and JFK Airport
  • Rate Code 3: Trips to Newark-Liberty International Airport
  • Rate Code 4: Trips to Westchester and Nassau Counties
  • Rate Code 5: Trips on an agreed flat fare that go beyond NYC, Newark-Liberty International Airport, JFK Airport, and Westchester and Nassau counties

Please note that:

  • Actual fares depend on traffic, weather, and other unforeseen conditions
  • Tips and tolls are not included
  • There is no extra charge for:
    • Multiple passengers
    • Luggage or bags
    • Paying by credit or debit card

Make sure to always bring your receipt.

Learn more about taxi rates and fares.

John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK)

Yellow taxis are allowed to pick up passengers going to and from JFK.

Green taxis may make prearranged trips to and from JFK. Fares will be determined by the car service you call and agreed upon by you before the trip begins. Hailing a green taxi at JFK is not permitted.

  • To or from Manhattan (Rate Code 2)
    • $70 "Flat Fare." (For multiple stops, the flat rate of $70 will be registered at the first stop in either Manhattan or JFK, and the meter will be restarted at the Standard City Rate for the remainder of the trip. The metered fare should be collected at the last stop from the last passenger.)
    • $1 Taxicab and Street Hail Livery (SHL) Improvement Surcharge
    • $5 rush hour surcharge from 4 PM to 8 PM on weekdays, except for holidays
    • 50 cents MTA State Surcharge for trips ending in NYC or Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Orange, or Putnam Counties
    • NY State Congestion Surcharge for trips that begin, end, or go through Manhattan south of 96th Street:
      • Yellow taxis: $2.50
      • Green taxis: $2.75
      • Shared rides: 75 cents
    • Airport Access Fee
      • Yellow taxi: $1.75 (pickups only)
      • Green taxi: $2.50 (both pickups and drop-offs)
    • Tolls (one-way only)
       
  • To or from other boroughs: 
    • Standard City Rate (Rate Code 1); there is no set or flat fare
    • Airport Access Fee
      • Yellow taxi: $1.75 (pickups only)
      • Green taxi: $2.50 (both pickups and drop-offs)
    • Tolls (one-way only)

LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

Yellow Taxis

  • Standard City Rate (Rate Code 1)
  • $5 additional surcharge
  • Airport Access Fee 
    • Yellow taxi: $1.75 (pickups only)
    • Green taxi: $2.50 (both pickups and drop-offs)
  • Tolls (one-way only)

Green Taxis

  • Standard City Rate (Rate Code 1)
  • $5 additional surcharge for trips to LGA if hailed outside the Hail Exclusionary Zone (south of West 110th Street and East 86th Street in Manhattan)
  • Airport Access Fee 
    • Yellow taxi: $1.75 (pickups only)
    • Green taxi: $2.50 (both pickups and drop-offs)
  • Tolls (one-way only)

Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

Both yellow and green taxis can't pick up passengers from Newark Airport. The airport is outside of NYC's jurisdiction and TLC taxi are only allowed to drop off passengers.

Green taxis can only make prearranged trips to Newark. Fares will be determined by the car service you call and agreed upon by you before the trip begins.

Trips to Newark Airport display Rate Code 3.

  • Standard City Rate
  • $20 Newark Surcharge
  • $1 Taxicab and Street Hail Livery (SHL) Improvement Surcharge
  • Airport Access Fee for green taxis: $2.50
  • Tolls (round-trip; passengers are charged for the driver’s return tolls)

Tolls

On trips within NYC, passengers must pay the tolls to the destination. 

Passengers must pay both the tolls to the destination and the driver’s return tolls for the following trips:

  • Westchester and Nassau Counties
  • Newark Airport (EWR)
  • Cross Bay Veterans Bridge
  • Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge
  • Verrazano Narrows Bridge

Drivers must use an E-Z pass when taking a toll bridge or tunnel. Discounted E-Z pass tolls will be added to the passenger fare at the end of the trip. You can’t be charged more than the E-Z Pass charge when passing through a toll.

Multiple Stops

For most taxi trips, multiple stops may be requested. There is no limit on how many stops are allowed, but the meter must remain on for the entire length of the trip. The meter cannot be turned off and started again after each stop. The full fare is paid at the last stop. 

These rules do not apply to trips between Manhattan and JFK Airport. Those trips have a flat fare. For multiple stops, the flat rate of $70 will be registered at the first stop in either Manhattan or JFK, and the meter will be restarted at the Standard City Rate for the remainder of the trip. The metered fare should be collected at the last stop from the last passenger. Surcharges also apply.

Credit Card Machine Broken

A taxi driver must not pick up a passenger if the credit or debit card machine is not working unless they tell the passenger about the machine before turning on the meter. If the passenger agrees to pay the fare with cash, the ride can begin.

  • If the credit or debit card machine does not work, the customer must still pay the fare.
  • If the machine is temporarily not working because the wireless payment system cannot communicate with its network, the driver can drive to a location where there is reception for the network.
  • If the machine is not working for another reason, the passenger should pay the fare using cash. If the passenger does not have cash, the driver can offer to drive to an ATM.

Trips that end outside NYC (except for Newark Airport) have different fares.

All tolls to and from the destination must be paid by the passenger. 

New York State

Fares for trips to New York State counties other than NYC counties depend on the county.

  • Nassau and Westchester Counties: Standard city rate (Rate Code 1) for the part of the trip inside NYC and then the Nassau/Westchester rate (Rate Code 4) to the destination. Rate Code 4 is double the amount of Rate Code 1.
  • All other counties: flat rate agreed upon by the driver and passenger before the trip begins.

Other States

For trips to New Jersey (except for Newark Airport), Connecticut, or other states than New York, the fare will be a flat rate agreed upon by the driver and passenger before the trip begins.

Multiple Stops

For most taxi trips, multiple stops may be requested. There is no limit on how many stops are allowed, but the meter must remain on for the entire trip. The meter cannot be turned off and started again after each stop. You pay the full fare at the last stop. 

Credit Card Machine Broken

A taxi driver must not pick up a passenger if the credit or debit card machine is not working unless they tell the passenger about the machine before turning on the meter. If the passenger agrees to pay the fare with cash, the ride can begin.

  • If the credit or debit card machine does not work, the customer must still pay the fare.
  • If the machine is temporarily not working because the wireless payment system cannot communicate with its network, the driver can drive to a location where there is reception for the network.
  • If the machine is not working for another reason, the passenger should pay the fare using cash. If the passenger does not have cash, the driver can offer to drive to an ATM.

Green Boro taxis, also called Street Hail Livery cabs and Boro Taxis, serve areas in the City not commonly served by yellow taxi cabs. They are green and can also be dispatched by local car service companies to pick you up.

Green Boro taxis can pick up street hails in:  

  • Brooklyn
  • Queens (street hails cannot be picked up at JFK and LaGuardia airports)
  • Bronx
  • Staten Island
  • Manhattan above East 96th Street and above West 110th Street. 

In areas where Green Boro taxis cannot pick up street hails, you can also:

  • Call a car service company to pre-arrange a pickup
  • Hail yellow taxis

Learn more about Green Boro taxis.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) Flexible Fare pilot program allows people to hail yellow or green taxis and receive a binding flat fare quote by using a smartphone.

All e-hail apps participating in the pilot are privately-owned and managed by individual companies.

These companies are allowed to offer rides with upfront pricing in yellow or green taxis:

  • Arro
  • Curb Mobility
  • Myle Technologies Inc.
  • Waave Inc.
  • Wapanda Inc.

Learn more about the Flexible Fare pilot.

Fares

If you request a trip through one of the participating e-hail apps, the meter will not be turned on for the duration of the trip.

Each e-hail company sets their own rates and will give you a price prior to sending a trip request. The upfront fare quote should include all charges, but the fare may change if you change your destination or if there are any unexpected tolls or taxes.

Airport Rides

The Port Authority does not currently allow taxis to be e-hailed at the airport. However, you can be dropped off at the airport.

Complaints

Contact the e-hail company directly if you have a complaint or question about their app. If you have a specific complaint about a taxi or driver, file a Taxi Complaint instead.

You can make a general complaint or compliment to TLC about its e-hail program.

Online

Email the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

By Phone

Call 311 or 212-NEW-YORK (212-639-9675) for help.

Car Seats and Seat Belts

On November 1, 2020, a new seat belt law went into effect in New York State. All drivers and passengers must buckle up regardless of age or where they sit in the vehicle.

Wearing a seatbelt is required in personal cars and when riding in a taxi or for-hire vehicle (FHV), including on app-based trips.

The penalty for a seat belt violation is a fine of up to $50 for the passenger and up to $100 and 3 points for the driver if a child under 16 is not properly buckled.

If you are riding with a child in a taxi or for-hire vehicle, a car restraint isn't required but you are encouraged to bring your own car seat. The driver must allow you to install your car seat.

Learn more about car seat and seat belt policies.

Maximum Number of Passengers

The maximum number of passengers allowed in a yellow taxicab by law is 4 in a 4-passenger taxicab or 5 in a 5-passenger taxicab. There is an exception that an additional passenger must be accepted if that passenger is under age 7 and is held on the lap of an adult passenger seated in the rear seat.

If a passenger is unable to fit or ride in the back seat of the taxicab, they may occupy the front seat alongside the driver.

Animals

A taxicab or car service driver may refuse service to a person with an animal that is not properly or adequately secured in a kennel case or another suitable container.

Animals accompanying people with disabilities do not require a container.

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