New York yellow-cab drivers say they are still waiting for meter relief while fuel, insurance and vehicle costs keep climbing, Columbia News Service reports — a piece later carried by The Good Men Project.
The city’s last taxi fare rise took effect on 19 December 2022, when the Taxi and Limousine Commission lifted the initial charge from $2.50 to $3.00 and the additional meter unit from $0.50 to $0.70, with higher rush-hour, overnight and airport charges. Drivers interviewed for the story say that table has not kept pace with living and running costs since then.
What drivers say they are paying
Norman Buenaventura, a driver for 14 years, told CNS that before app companies such as Uber took share he could make a living. Now, he said, monthly bills including medallion and mortgage can run as high as $9,000. Diego Taurus, driving since 2014, put his fuel spend at nearly $600 a month, up from about $380, and said he pays $1,200 a week to drive a medallioned Toyota Sienna.
CNS cited Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation of nearly 15% since the fare change and a New York City pump price of about $4.37 a gallon of regular, up from $3.49 in December 2022. Taurus said cabbies often work 14- to 16-hour days and that he does 80 to 84 hours a week, with no sick days or holidays. A 2017 TLC rule aimed at limiting passenger-carrying time does not cap empty cruising in the same way.
Insurance catches up after a market shock
Costs are not only at the pump. After American Transit Insurance Company’s collapse rattled the for-hire market, New York’s Department of Financial Services told the industry that cab and rideshare insurance premiums would rise by about 25% on average over three years as rates are reset to actuarially sound levels. CNS reported that city-mandated taxi cover had already jumped about 14% in the past year to an average of roughly $6,725, with another 11% rise expected.
Broker Cira Angeles told CNS the market had spent years underpricing risk. Tire prices, the story said, are nearly 30% above March 2020 levels, and taxi rubber often needs replacing every 18 months.
Yellow meters vs app minimum pay
TLC press secretary Jason Kersten said stable, predictable fares are part of why people choose yellows, and that any new meter rate needs a commissioner’s proposal, consultation and a commission vote — a process that took more than three months last time.
By contrast, high-volume app pay for Uber and Lyft drivers is adjusted with inflation each March. From 1 March 2026, TLC’s minimum per-mile and per-minute rates rose 3.36%. Yellow meter rates do not move on that automatic clock.
Workload, health and leaving the trade
Pressure has sharpened after three cab drivers were found dead in their cars over the summer from medical causes, NYTWA and other outlets reported. Executive director Bhairavi Desai linked the pattern to long hours and little time for health care as trips shrink and costs grow: “We are supposed to work to live, not live to work.”
Some drivers, including Peter Mwakajunda, told CNS they are weighing leaving — harder for medallion owners, who face TLC transfer rules. “If you look around, many of these guys are depressed, they are suffering,” he said.