Transit & Streets Reviewed 2026-08-22
How a yellow cab fare is set
Three dollars to start, 70 cents for every fifth of a mile, and a stack of surcharges that can add more than seven dollars before the cab moves. Plus the one trip where the meter stays off: JFK to Manhattan is a flat $70, as of August 2026. The rate card, from the Taxi and Limousine Commission's own page.
The numbers that matter
- The meter
- $3.00 to start, then 70 cents per fifth of a mile above 12 mph, or per 60 seconds in slow traffic (TLC Taxi Fare page, read August 2026)
- The surcharges
- 50 cents MTA state surcharge, $1 improvement surcharge, $1 overnight (8 p.m. to 6 a.m.), $2.50 weekday rush hour (4 to 8 p.m.), $2.50 state congestion surcharge below 96th Street, 75 cents MTA congestion toll below 60th Street (TLC Taxi Fare page, read August 2026)
- JFK to Manhattan
- A flat $70 either direction, plus the surcharges, tolls, and a $5 rush-hour add-on (TLC Taxi Fare page, read August 2026)
- Newark and LaGuardia
- Newark is the meter plus a $20 surcharge and tolls both ways; LaGuardia is the meter plus $5 (TLC Taxi Fare page, read August 2026)
- What is free
- Extra passengers, bags, and paying by card cost nothing (TLC Taxi Fare page, read August 2026)
What the meter is doing
A yellow cab does not charge what the driver feels like. The Taxi and Limousine Commission writes the rate card, the meter reads it, and the card is short enough to fit on one screen. It starts with the drop:
$3.00 initial charge.
The drop, in cab-speak: what it costs to close the door. Everything after it is distance or time, never both at once.
Plus 70 cents per 1/5 mile when traveling above 12mph or per 60 seconds in slow traffic or when the vehicle is stopped.
This is the clause that explains Midtown. Under 12 mph the meter switches from distance to time, so a cab stuck on 34th Street earns 70 cents a minute whether it moves or not. A mile at cruising speed is $3.50; the same mile in gridlock can be much more.
Then the extras, each of them a separate line that someone in Albany or at the MTA put there:
Plus 50 cents MTA State Surcharge for all trips that end in New York City or Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Orange or Putnam Counties.
A state tax that rides along to the MTA. It is charged by where the trip ends rather than where it starts.
Plus $1.00 Improvement Surcharge.
A dollar on every metered trip, day or night.
Plus $1.00 overnight surcharge 8pm to 6am.
Plus $2.50 rush hour surcharge from 4pm to 8pm on weekdays, excluding holidays.
The two time-of-day charges never overlap: rush hour ends at 8 p.m., which is the minute the overnight dollar starts.
Plus New York State Congestion Surcharge of $2.50 (Yellow Taxi) or $2.75 (Green Taxi) or 75 cents (any shared ride) for all trips that begin, end or pass through Manhattan south of 96th Street.
A state surcharge, separate from the MTA's congestion toll, drawn at 96th Street rather than 60th. It is why a cab ride that merely crosses the Upper East Side on the way somewhere else costs $2.50 more.
Plus MTA Congestion Pricing toll of 75 cents for Yellow and Green Taxi for the area of Manhattan south of and including 60th Street, excluding the FDR Drive, West Side Highway/Route 9A, and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel connections to West Street.
The newest line, the taxi version of the Congestion Relief Zone toll. Cabs skip the daily charge that cars pay; their passengers pay 75 cents per trip instead, with no daily cap. A ride that starts at 95th Street and ends at 59th collects both congestion charges.
Add it up for an ordinary weekday-evening ride from Midtown to the Village: the $3 drop, the 50-cent state surcharge, the $1 improvement surcharge, $2.50 for rush hour, $2.50 for crossing below 96th Street, and 75 cents for the zone below 60th. That is $10.25 on the meter before the first fifth of a mile, and it is all on the card.
There is no charge for extra passengers, luggage or bags, or paying by credit card.
Four people pay the same as one. The card-fee folklore is just folklore.
The on-screen rate message should read: "Rate #01 – Standard City Rate."
Worth a glance. The meter displays which of the five rate codes it is running, and a cab inside the city limits should be on Rate 01.
The airports, where the rules change
JFK is the famous exception. The meter stays off and the fare is a number:
Trips between Manhattan and John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in either direction: $70
Flat means flat: the Van Wyck at a standstill costs the same as the Van Wyck at 2 a.m. The surcharges still apply on top, as do tolls and tip.
$5.00 rush hour surcharge (4pm to 8pm weekdays, excluding legal holidays).
The JFK version of the rush-hour charge is $5 rather than $2.50. On a 5 p.m. weekday landing the fare is $70 plus $5, plus the state and improvement surcharges, plus the congestion charges if the trip ends below 96th Street.
Trips between John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) and other New York City destinations are charged the standard metered fare.
The flat fare is a Manhattan deal only. JFK to Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx is a metered ride.
LaGuardia gets a small add-on and Newark gets a large one:
Trips to and from LaGuardia Airport (LGA) are charged the standard metered fare, plus a $5.00 surcharge and all other applicable surcharges.
Standard metered fare. Plus $20.00 Newark Surcharge. Plus tip and tolls to and from EWR (passengers are charged for the drivers’ return tolls).
The page says it outright: you are charged for the driver's return tolls. The $20 and the round-trip tolls are the passenger paying for the ride back across the Hudson.
Tolls, and trips past the city line
Drivers must use an E-ZPass when taking a toll bridge or tunnel. Discounted E-ZPass tolls will be added to the passenger fare at the end of the trip.
You pay the E-ZPass rate rather than the mail rate, and it lands on the receipt as a separate line.
Once the taxi goes beyond the City limit to Nassau or Westchester, the on-screen rate message should read "Rate #04 – Out of City Rate to Nassau or Westchester." The metered fare is double the amount from the City limit to your destination.
Double, from the city line onward. The portion inside the city stays at the normal rate.
The Driver may choose whether to take such trips. The fare must be mutually agreed upon before the trip may begin.
That is the rule for anywhere outside the city other than Nassau and Westchester. The cab becomes a negotiation, and the driver is allowed to say no.
The one way the meter stays off in the city
If you request a trip through the E-Hail app, 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.
Hail a cab through an app and you get an upfront quote instead of the rate card. The cab is the same; the pricing is the app's.
For the toll side of the receipt, read what the bridges and tunnels cost; for the 75-cent zone charge and the daily toll cars pay instead, how congestion pricing works; and for the cheapest ways in from each airport, the airport-to-Manhattan guide.
The questions New Yorkers actually ask
How much is a taxi from JFK to Manhattan?
A flat $70 in either direction, set by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, plus a 50-cent state surcharge, a $1 improvement surcharge, $5 more on weekdays between 4 and 8 p.m., the $2.50 state congestion surcharge if the trip touches Manhattan below 96th Street, the 75-cent congestion toll below 60th Street, plus tolls and tip. The flat rate applies only between JFK and Manhattan.
How is a NYC taxi fare calculated?
The meter starts at $3.00 and adds 70 cents per fifth of a mile when the cab is moving faster than 12 mph, or 70 cents per 60 seconds when it is slower or stopped. Surcharges are added on top: 50 cents for the MTA, $1 improvement surcharge, $1 overnight from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., $2.50 on weekday rush hours from 4 to 8 p.m., $2.50 for trips touching Manhattan below 96th Street, and 75 cents for trips in the Congestion Relief Zone below 60th Street.
How much is a taxi from Newark Airport to Manhattan?
There is no flat rate. It is the standard metered fare plus a $20 Newark surcharge, plus tolls in both directions, because the passenger covers the driver's return tolls, plus tip.
Is there a surcharge for a taxi from LaGuardia?
Yes. Trips to and from LaGuardia are the standard metered fare plus a $5 surcharge and all other applicable surcharges.
Do taxis charge extra for more passengers or for paying by card?
No. The TLC rate card says there is no charge for extra passengers, luggage or bags, or paying by credit card.
Why does my cab receipt show two congestion charges?
They are different charges. The New York State congestion surcharge of $2.50 applies to any trip that begins, ends, or passes through Manhattan south of 96th Street. The MTA congestion pricing toll of 75 cents applies to trips in the Congestion Relief Zone, Manhattan south of and including 60th Street. A trip that touches both areas collects both.
What does a Manhattan cab ride cost before it moves?
On a weekday between 4 and 8 p.m., a trip that starts below 96th Street and enters the zone below 60th Street begins at $10.25 before the first fifth of a mile: the $3 drop, the 50-cent state surcharge, the $1 improvement surcharge, the $2.50 rush-hour surcharge, the $2.50 state congestion surcharge, and the 75-cent congestion toll. Overnight the rush-hour charge is replaced by the $1 overnight surcharge.
What happens to the fare outside the city?
To Nassau or Westchester, the meter switches to Rate 04 at the city line and charges double the metered amount from there to the destination. Anywhere else outside the city, the driver may decline the trip, and the fare has to be agreed on before it starts.
The documents
The public records this page draws on. Read them yourself:
Now watch the machinery move.
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