Farebox: What It Means in TLC Taxi Reports

Farebox is TLC's word for the total money taxis collect from passengers. TLC's Monthly Indicators data dictionary defines Farebox Per Day as the "total amount, across all vehicles, collected from all fares, surcharges, taxes, and tolls," and adds: "this amount does not include amounts from credit card tips." It is an industry number, not one driver's pay.

The current number

In TLC's Industry Indicators, yellow taxis averaged $3,112,781 a day and green cabs $30,536 a day in July 2026, the latest month we have (dataset fetched 2026-10-12).

Why farebox is not driver income

Farebox counts every dollar the passenger pays except card tips. Some of that money only passes through your hands:

• the 50-cent MTA tax — see who pays the MTA tax;
• the $1 improvement surcharge, which goes to the Taxicab Improvement Fund — see the taxi improvement surcharge;
• the NYS congestion surcharge and the MTA congestion toll;
• tolls, which go to whoever holds the E-ZPass tag.

At the same time, farebox leaves out card tips, which you keep. And lease costs, fuel and fees are not subtracted. So a rising farebox can mean more trips, higher fares, more surcharges, or all three.

Farebox vs "fare" in trip records

The fare in TLC trip records is narrower. In the yellow taxi data dictionary, fare_amount is "the time-and-distance fare calculated by the meter," and total_amount is "the total amount charged to passengers," which "does not include cash tips." Farebox is an industry total per day; the trip records show the same kinds of money one trip at a time. By our count of trip records (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026), the average yellow taxi metered fare alone was $21.08 a trip, before tolls, tips, taxes and surcharges (fare per trip by sector).

Where you will see this term

Related terms

• Trips per day and percent of trips paid with credit card come from the same Industry Indicators table. Card share is tracked in card vs cash payments.
• Rate of fare — the meter's price per unit set by TLC rules.
• Taximeter — the device that calculates the fare that feeds these totals.

For how farebox has changed and how to read it, see how much farebox NYC taxis collect. A guide to every TLC report is in the Factbook and reports guide, and more pay topics are on the money hub.