Taxi Fares Could Rise by an Average of $1

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has put in motion a proposal that would add about $1 to the average taxi fare.

The proposal was drawn up after a periodic review of New York taxi fares showed an imbalance between the waiting-time component and the pickup and mileage components of the fare, as well as a disparity with other fares across the country, officials said yesterday.

Taxi drivers currently take in 40 cents for every two minutes they spend waiting to drive while they have a fare, whether it be idling in traffic or sitting at a curb while the customer runs to an ATM. The new proposal would pay them double: 40 cents a minute. The change would add up to about an 11% increase in the total fare.

"It's a matter of balancing," the spokesman for the commission, Allan Fromberg, said.

The commissioners also discussed a proposal to set up a flat fare for customers riding to the John F. Kennedy International Airport from Manhattan. There is currently a $45 flat fare for customers going from the airport to Manhattan.

Both proposals will be presented at a public meeting on October 25. If the commissioners then agree to implement them, taxi fares are expected to change sometime in December.

In May 2004, the commission implemented a 26% increase in the fare, the largest in its history. Compared with that increase — which brought the base fare to $2.50 from $2 and the charge by mile to $0.40 from $0.30 — the proposed increase to the waiting-time charge is fairly small and not likely to affect ridership, Mr. Fromberg said.

An advocacy group for taxi drivers, the Taxi Workers Alliance, and the Taxi and Limousine Commission agreed yesterday that the increase would only benefit drivers.

An organizing committee member at the alliance with 30 years experience driving cabs, William Lindauer, said, however, that the increase wasn't a substantial boost to real wages for drivers because the cost of fuel has increased so dramatically over the last several years.

"It's been long overdue," he said. "But, it's just a step in the right direction. "

Mr. Lindauer said that as a taxi driver he would only agree to wait for a customer if he or she made special arrangements, as the waiting charge is so low.

Under the current system, a driver makes about $12 for each hour of waiting. The cost for renting a cab for a full 12-hours shift is about $10.27 an hour, so there is no incentive for drivers to wait. The proposed increase would give them $24 for an hour of wait-time.