T&LC approves cab fare hike for September

Come September, New Yorkers will be paying more for their cab rides, and the bulk of that increase will go toward taxi drivers. The Taxi & Limousine Commission voted to approve a fare hike today. With six in favor, two against and one abstaining, the commission members authorized what will amount to an average hike of 17 percent. Meter ticks will cost 50 cents, and the flat fare from JFK to Manhattan will climb to $52.

After the hikes, David Yassky, head of the T&LC, called the vote a victory for cabbies. “Taxi drivers have been working hard for six years with no raise,” he said. “There comes a time you need to make sure people can earn a decent living.”

Meanwhile, as I explored on Tuesday, medallion owners were not happy. “What happened today was not a package,” Michael Woloz, spokesman for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, said. “It was a lopsided giveback to the drivers.” The Board, whose members will not enjoy a similar bump in the least rate paid by cab drivers, may look to sue the city, but I expect that to be a useless exercise in litigation.