» Taxis

Green Taxis in NYC?
May 4, 2012

NYC_Taxi,_green‘Taxi Yellow’ is a color we all know because it’s what we see on the 13,000 NYC taxis driving mostly in Manhattan. But make way for ‘Big Apple Green Taxi’, which is the color of licensed NYC taxis that will primarily be in the NYC boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

Governor Cuomo signed legislation in January 2012 allowing the sale of NYC taxi licenses for street hails in NYC outer boroughs, and NYC’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) approved rules for this new fleet in mid-May 2012. After May 29, 2012, NYC will accept applications for the first 6,000 licenses, with another 12,000 licenses becoming available over two years. According to The New York Times, 20% of the new Big Apple taxis will have to be wheelchair-accessible.

Not everyone loves the new green. It’s also being described as ‘mint’, ‘warm wasabi’, and ‘big, pastry green.’ Personally, it seems most like ‘sea foam green’, ‘Crayola lime’, or ‘celadon’ to us.

Filed under: Taxis — Tags: , — mtohn @ 10:43 am
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
Gridlock Sam: Fixing NYC Traffic
April 30, 2012

We adore Sam Schwartz, aka ‘Gridlock Sam’. He’s a one man army dedicated to making NYC driving and traveling a pleasant experience, which means less traffic, happy drivers who don’t honk the horn, and a fantastic public transportation system that runs on time and gets you where you want to go.

How is he doing it? All on his own time, this owner of an internationally recognized transportation and engineer firm has designed a plan to bring peace to the roads and underground of NYC. The plan includes:

  • $5 toll on all bridges and tunnels coming into Manhattan below 60th St to spread out the congestion on the currently free bridges — Williamsburg Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Queensboro/59th St Bridge — and the currently tolled crossings — Queens Midtown Tunnel, Brooklyn Battery Tunnel,
  • $5 charge to enter Manhattan below 60th St if you haven’t used any of the tolled crossings, and
  • $1 surcharge on all taxi trips below 60th St.

During his career as NYC’s Traffic Commissioner, Sam saw it all. Read more about Sam’s career and his love for NYC.

Filed under: Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Driving & Traffic News,Taxis — Tags: , , , , , , , , — mtohn @ 10:51 am
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
How to Hail a NYC Taxi
March 6, 2012

NYC Taxi MedallionIn November 2011, we described the confusing messaging on top of NYC taxis that indicates if the NYC cab is available or cannot accept passengers. Shortly after, the TLC (Taxi and Limousine Commission) conducted a review and has come up with a very simple solution:

If the taxi is available, the light on the roof will be ON’.

If the taxi is not available, the light on the rood will be OFF.

Of course, that leaves the common situation of a NYC cab driver who is technically Off-Duty but is willing to pick up a passenger who is ‘going my way’.

All NYC taxis will have to replace the current rooftop signage beginning Fall 2012. Read the full NY Daily News article.

Filed under: Taxis — Tags: , — mtohn @ 5:10 pm
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
NYC’s New Taxi
November 9, 2011
NYC Taxi

The new NYC Taxi from the outside

NYC’s Taxi of Tomorrow is here! Well, the prototype is, at least. We went down to 23rd St & Broadway last week to check it out. There are some nifty new features and a few things that still have to be figured out for the new NYC taxi made by Nissan.

New Features Include:

  • No Hump on the floor so the person in middle will actually get to sit with his/her legs together, if that’s what is wanted.
  • Glass Will Separate the passengers from the driver, and the driver will be able to hear you.
  • Climate Control that works.
  • Legroom of up to 2 feet from the front of the passenger seat to the back of the driver’s seat.
  • Charging Stations will be available all passengers. Right now the outlets are in the back of the driver’s seat. Read more…
Filed under: Taxis — Tags: — mtohn @ 3:59 pm
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
Hailing a NYC Taxi
November 3, 2011

NYC Taxi MedallionYou see a NYC taxi with its rooftop lights on, try to hail it, and it flies right past you. Yet a second taxi with the exact same lighting situation picks you up. WHY?

You aren’t alone in being confused.  According to the NYC TLC (Taxi & Limousine Commission), NYC yellow cabs have 2 lights on the rooftop:

Medallion Number — this is in the center. If it’s ON, then the taxi is available most of the time.

Off-Duty Lights — there are two of these, with one on either side of the Medallion Number.

There are four possible combinations of these two sets of lights, and it’s confusing. Read more…

Filed under: NYC Public Transportation,Taxis — Tags: , , , — mtohn @ 3:38 pm
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
Transit vs. Traffic for NYers
March 17, 2011

According to a March poll from the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, New Yorkers are more concerned with transportation than NYC traffic and congestion.  They care more about the NYC buses and NYC subways than adding or taking away traffic lanes for things like fast-service buses.

Granted, only 5% of the registered voters surveyed targeted transportation as the most important issue for NYC, after education and the economy. Of that 5%, two-thirds cited ‘quality mass transit’ as the top issue, and 20% were concerned with traffic congestion.

Turns out that 54% of NYC households don’t have a vehicle, so this all makes sense.

Read the full article from Streetsblog.

Filed under: Buses,Congestion / Traffic Pricing,Getting Around NYC,NYC Driving,Subways,Taxis — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 6:25 pm
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
NYC Speed Cameras?
January 12, 2011

If you’ve done any NYC driving, you probably don’t know the NYC speed limit is 30 mph and you probably can’t believe that it is actually possible to speed. Well, maybe if you’re cruising up 1st Avenue late at night and time the lights perfectly….

New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan says that the worst vehicle accidents happen because people are speeding, and installing cameras is the solution to stopping the speeding behaviour. Just like a red-light camera, the speed camera would take a picture of your vehicle and you’ll get that photo plus a NYC speeding ticket in the mail. But installing the cameras would require approval from the state Legislature, which has shown little interest.

Do we think this will happen? The State Legislature would have to approve the speed cameras, and so far it’s not showing a lot of interest in a bill proposing that 40 speed cameras be installed at ‘hot spots’.

Read what the New York Post has to say.

Filed under: Getting Around NYC,Speeding,Taxis — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 8:12 pm
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
NYC Taxi TV Ads
December 13, 2010

Do you listen the TV ads in the back of NYC taxis? If you do, you’ re in the majority. Since NYC taxis have been required to have the TVs since 2007, that means that a 30-second advertisement running in half of the city’s taxi fleet could be seen more than 200,000 times a day!

According to The New York Times article, NYC doesn’t get any of the revenue because it’s split between the sales agencies and the channels that contribute content.

The city plans to introduce a 2nd channel filled with government-produced programming to tell passengers more about everything NYC has to offer.

Filed under: Getting Around NYC,Taxis — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 8:33 pm
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
The Times Square Experiment
February 28, 2010

Remember back in late May 2009, when seemingly overnight the North/Southbound streets in Times Square were suddenly turned into pedestrian lounge-rooms? The streets were painted green and filled with plastic chairs and tables.

The results are in, and those newer metal chairs and tables are going to stay plus get an upgrade to permanent furniture.

Times Square - before new traffic pattern

Times Square - before new traffic pattern


Times Square's pedestrian area

Times Square's pedestrian area

It’s all part of the Green Light for Midtown project spearheaded by Mayor Bloomberg and implemented by the NYC DOT*, where the goals are to make the NYC streets safer and to reduce NYC traffic and congestion. For Times Square, DOT was looking to improve the NYC traffic flow on 6th & 7th Avenues and make Broadway safer for pedestrians and drivers. If you’ve been through that area, you’ve seen the new pedestrian spaces on Broadway from 42nd – 47th Streets, and also on 33rd – 35th Streets.

How do we know if it worked? DOT used GPS units in taxis to compare travel times in fall 2008 against fall 2009 and found that: Read more…

Filed under: Buses,Driving in Times Square,Getting Around NYC,NYC Driving,Subways,Taxis — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 2:57 pm
‧•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••‧
GREAT MONTHLY PARKING DEALS
from more than 600 garages. deals as low as $200/month!
Get Parking Now