History of the NYC Taxi and For-Hire Industry: Timeline

In short: New York's regulated taxi industry began in 1937, when the Haas Act froze taxi licenses at 13,500 and created the medallion. The Taxi and Limousine Commission followed in 1971. For forty years yellow cabs dominated; in 2010 they made about 463,000 trips a day. Then came green cabs (2013), app-based rides (which passed yellow taxis in daily trips in 2017), a cap on new for-hire licenses and minimum pay for app drivers (2018–2019), the pandemic collapse (2020), a taxi fare increase (2022), clean-vehicle rules, an all-accessible taxi hack-up rule (2024) and congestion pricing (2025).

This page puts those turning points on one dated timeline, each from an official source, with TLC's own trip data alongside. For the medallion's own story (prices, the crash and debt relief) see the history of the NYC taxi medallion.

The long view in one chart

Yellow taxi trips peaked in this series at 487,929 a day in 2012. They were already falling before the pandemic (230,691 a day in 2019), dropped to 67,747 in 2020, and have climbed back to 131,133 in 2025.

1937–2012: the medallion era

For drivers, this era meant a fixed number of yellow cabs and a separate world of "car services" (liveries and black cars) that could only take pre-arranged trips. The medallion was both a license and an investment: its owner could drive it, lease it to shift drivers, or sell it. Two kinds existed side by side. Corporate medallions were owned in groups by companies, and independent ones by owner-drivers limited to one each. Fares changed only by TLC rule, so the meter rate set in September 2012 stayed in place for ten years.

2013–2019: new competition, new rules

The chart shows the shift. App trips grew from 113,824 a day in 2015 to 700,916 in 2019, while yellow trips fell from 400,642 to 230,691. Green cabs peaked early (52,723 a day in 2015) and fell to 1,582 by 2025. TLC also kept extending the pause on new FHV licenses: there were 120,126 FHVs when it was first extended in August 2019, and as of February 2026 the only new FHV licenses available are wheelchair-accessible ones (FHV License Review).

Two rule changes reshaped who drives what. In 2016 TLC created the universal TLC Driver License, which TLC said let medallion owners recruit from the whole pool of about 155,000 licensed drivers instead of the roughly 50,000 previously qualified for taxis (2017 testimony). Today TLC defines a high-volume for-hire service as a base dispatching more than 10,000 trips a day on average; only two hold that license, Uber and Lyft (2025 Annual Report). Because one license covers both, many drivers now move between yellow cabs and apps, which is why TLC's driver counts by industry overlap.

2020–2026: collapse, recovery and new mandates

The pandemic hit taxis hardest. Taxi trips fell so far that the passenger surcharge funding accessible taxis brought in only $11.2 million in 2021, against $41.4 million in 2016 (TIF report). Medallion owners already carrying large loans faced foreclosure, which led to the Office of Financial Stability and the relief program. The 2022 fare rule was the first meter increase in ten years; TLC projected it would raise average passenger fares by 22.9% and said it aimed at "putting more money in the pockets of drivers" (fare rule).

Recovery has been uneven. Taxi trips in 2024 were 19% higher than in 2023, by TLC's Office of Financial Stability count, and 2025 rose again, but yellow taxis still make well under half the daily trips they made before 2019. Meanwhile the policy agenda moved to the vehicles themselves: cleaner app fleets under Green Rides, and a taxi fleet that must become wheelchair accessible as each older car retires.

Where the industry stands now

At the end of 2025, TLC licensed 180,169 drivers, 13,589 taxis, 652 green cabs, about 103,700 for-hire vehicles and 791 bases, including two high-volume services, Uber and Lyft (2025 Annual Report). In 2025 app trips averaged 667,537 a day and yellow taxis 131,133. Green Rides passed its 2025 benchmark, with more than 15% of app trips going to EVs or WAVs, according to TLC.

Step by step: how today's rules came out of this history

1. The medallion cap (1937) is why yellow cabs alone may take street hails anywhere in the city, and why a medallion has a price.
2. Green cabs (2013) were created to bring street hails to areas "traditionally underserved by yellow taxis" (TLC 2025 Annual Report).
3. The FHV cap and minimum pay (2018–2019) came as app trips grew fast; TLC's 2018 release cited a study finding 96% of app drivers earned less than $17.22, the independent-contractor equivalent of a $15 minimum wage.
4. The improvement surcharge and the accessible-only rule trace back to the 2013 accessibility agreement and the August 2024 court order.
5. Two congestion charges now sit on a Manhattan trip: the 2019 state surcharge and the 2025 MTA zone toll. See the NYC toll changes timeline and did congestion pricing reduce Uber trips?

How to read the dates and numbers

History pages often mix up three kinds of date. A rule is adopted by the Commission on one day, published, and takes effect later; the 2022 fare was adopted November 15 and charged from December. We give the date the source gives and say which kind it is. Counts also differ by source and day: TLC licensed 13,587 medallions in its 2024 financial report and counted 13,589 taxis at the end of 2025. Trip numbers here are TLC's own yearly averages of monthly figures, so a single busy month can be higher. When you quote a number, quote its date too.

Read next

• The medallion's rise, crash and relief: history of the NYC taxi medallion
• Who's who in today's industry: NYC for-hire industry: who is who and high-volume for-hire service
• Data since congestion pricing: Manhattan traffic speeds and congestion zone trip statistics
• A safety program that came and went: Critical Driver Program history

More on the medallions hub.