NYC Cab | Park It! Guides

January 25, 2013

NYC_Taxi Through Twitter, we heard about Hailo, a new mobile app you can use to hail a NYC taxi. From the video, it looks like you list your location on the app and the NYC taxi will accept your request. You’ll get a a text when the NYC cab is approaching. The payment is made through the Hailo app at the end of the ride.

We’re not sure how this app is different from Uber’s app to hail NYC cabs. We’ve blogged before about the legal issues Uber had with the NYC TLC.

There doesn’t seem to be a charge for passengers. The drivers pay a commission to Hailo for the service. The founding team comprising taxi drivers and entrepreneur is based in Boston, and Hailo is active in London, Boston, Barcelona, Dublin, Chicago, Madrid, and Tokyo. They’ve raised $20 million in funding. We wish them luck in NYC.

Filed under: Taxis — Tags: NYC cab, NYC Taxi, Taxi and Limousine Commission — mtohn @ 10:27 am

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Hailing a NYC Taxi

December 20, 2012

Beginning January 15, 2013, hailing a NYC taxi will be a whole lot easier to figure out. Right now, there are four combinations of NYC taxi rooftop lights to convey if the taxi is available, not available, or might be available if the driver feels like it.

But as each taxi is inspected after January 15, 2013, the ‘OFF DUTY’ lights will be discontinued. NYC taxi rooftops will have a much simpler version.

Available — if the taxi rooftop medallion number is LIGHTED

Not Available – if the taxi rooftop medallion number is DARK. This will happen if the taxi is occupied or if the driver is off-duty.

Filed under: Taxis — Tags: NYC cab, NYC Taxi, Taxi and Limousine Commission — mtohn @ 11:27 am

NYC Taxi New Logo

August 23, 2012

Source: David W. Dunlap/The New York Times

NYC Taxi fares are going up, and there’s a new design on the outside of the taxi cars to celebrate. The Taxi and Limousine Commission decided that the old logo (shown right) with the ‘T’ in a circle followed by the letters ‘axi’ was fine to be replaced by just the ‘T’ in yellow in a black circle (shown below).

The other change to the outside of a NYC taxi is that the fare structure will be gone. All you will know is that the NYC cab is metered, and the specific fare types and amounts will be shown on the interior video screens on the back of the driver’s seat.

NYC_Taxi_2012,_new_T_design_outside

According to The New York Times, ‘David S. Yassky, the chairman of the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, sounded confident on Tuesday that the change would not confound anyone. “We have no doubt that a yellow car with a roof light with a big T will be understood as a New York City taxicab,” he said. “Even the greenest of greenhorns will know that it’s a taxicab.” ‘

Filed under: Taxis — Tags: NYC cab, NYC Taxi, Taxi and Limousine Commission — mtohn @ 11:37 am

NYC Taxi Fare Increase

July 12, 2012

Yes, it’s true. Today, the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) voted to increase fares for NYC taxi rides. For longer trips, this will mean an average 17% increase in fares. Here’s what it means:

$2.50 flagfall rate upon entry – No change
$0.50 per additional unit of 1/5 mile, when the taxicab is traveling at 6 miles an hour or more, or 60 seconds when not in motion or traveling at less than 6 miles per hour. This is a $.10 increase.
Night surcharge of $.50 8pm – 6am. No change
Peak hour Weekday Surcharge of $1.00 Monday – Friday after 4pm – 8pm. No change
New York State Tax Surcharge of $.50 per ride. No change.
$52.00 plus tolls for trips between JFK Airport & Manhattan. This is an increase of $7.00.
$17.50 surcharge for trips to Newark Liberty Airport. This is an increase of $2.50.

If you generally take shorter NYC cab rides, then you shouldn’t see too much of an increase.

Filed under: Taxis — Tags: NYC cab, NYC Taxi — mtohn @ 5:16 pm

Potential NYC Taxi Fare Increase

July 10, 2012

Yesterday, the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) voted on a proposal to raise NYC taxi fares $.50 per additional 1/5 mile. For longer trips, this will mean an average 17% increase in fares. The proposal included:

Flagfall rate: no change
$0.10 increase per additional unit of 1/5 mile, when the taxicab is traveling at 6 miles an hour or more, or 60 seconds when not in motion or traveling at less than 6 miles per hour. This would bring the ‘per additional unit of 1/5 mile’ to $.50.
$7.00 increase for trips between JFK Airport & Manhattan. This would bring the total fare to $52 plus tolls.
$2.50 increase for trips to Newark Liberty Airport. This would raise the surcharge to $17.50.

The proposal also asked to change how much taxi drivers pay for credit card processing. Right now, they pay a flat 5% fee. The proposal would implement a flat $9 fee per shift.

If the vote passed, you could see the new NYC cab fares in September 2012.

The last fare increase for NYC cabs was in 2006. Read more…

Filed under: Taxis — Tags: NYC cab, NYC Taxi — mtohn @ 9:34 am

Another NYC Taxi Fare Increase?

May 31, 2012

The last fare increase for NYC taxis was in 2006. The Taxi & Limousine Commission is now asking for a 20% increase in fares. We don’t know the increase includes the flagfall rate, the per mile fare, or both. Right now, the NYC taxi fares are:

$2.50 flagfall rate upon entry
$0.40 per additional unit of 1/5 mile, when the taxicab is traveling at 6 miles an hour or more, or 60 seconds when not in motion or traveling at less than 6 miles per hour.
Night surcharge of $.50 8pm – 6am Read more…

Filed under: Taxis — Tags: NYC cab, NYC Taxi — mtohn @ 5:12 pm

How to Hail a NYC Taxi

March 6, 2012

In 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: NYC cab, NYC Taxi — mtohn @ 5:10 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: Add new tag, NYC cab, NYC Taxi, NYC Traffic, taxi advertising — mtohn @ 8:33 pm

NYC Taxi Group Ride

February 22, 2010

Have you ever been tempted to ask a stranger to share a cab? Well now you can.

NYC’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC)’s one-year test of a Group Ride program started a few weeks ago. Three Group Ride Stands are already active and three more are being planned.

How it Works
Two to four passengers can pay a per-person flat fare of $3 – $4 to share a taxi from a Group Ride stand to a common destination and you can get out anywhere along that route.

Who Tips?
Saving on a taxi ride is definitely a great idea. Our only question is, who tips? No doubt the last person exiting the taxi is going to get stuck with a higher fare than the other riders. Let us know if you have any ideas how to manage the tipping issue.

Where to Get a Group Ride Read more…

Filed under: Getting Around NYC,NYC Driving — Tags: car share, NYC cab, NYC Driving, NYC streets, NYC Taxi, NYC Travel, TLC — mtohn @ 8:16 pm

NYC Taxi Drivers – No Electronics!

December 18, 2009

Breaking News!

Even though NYC taxis are now clean and free of unpleasant odors, so many of us have had to endure a taxi ride listening to the driver talk incessantly on his/her cell phone. I’ve even had a driver miss a crucial turn because he was more focused on his phone call than my destination and my warning him that the turn was coming up. My ride ended up costing me double the amount.

But starting in mid-January, the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) has banned NYC taxi drivers from using ‘any electronic device in the immediate propinquity of the driver’s ear’.

That means that not only can drivers cannot wear a hands-free headset, even if they ARE NOT talking on the phone, but they cannot use ANY electronic device while the cab is in motion — things that take pictures, play music, etc.

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