How a NYC Taxi Fare Is Calculated: Every Charge

In short: A yellow or green taxi fare starts at $3.00 and adds 70 cents per unit. A unit is one-fifth of a mile when the cab moves at 12 mph or faster, or 60 seconds when it is slower or stopped. On top of the meter come fixed charges: the $1.00 improvement surcharge and 50-cent MTA tax on almost every trip, plus $1.00 overnight, $2.50 rush hour, the NYS congestion surcharge ($2.50 yellow, $2.75 green), the 75-cent MTA congestion toll, the $5.00 LaGuardia surcharge and a $2.00 airport pickup fee when they apply. Tolls and tips are added last.

You keep the meter amount, the rush, overnight and LaGuardia surcharges, and tips. The improvement surcharge, MTA tax and both congestion charges are not yours: they go to the Taxicab Improvement Fund, the taxpayer, New York State and the MTA. Amounts below are from TLC's Taxi Fare page and Rule 58-26, checked October 12, 2026. This guide explains the rules. It is not legal advice.

How the meter counts

Rule 58-26(a)(1) sets the metered fare "regardless of the number of passengers or stops":

• Initial charge: $3.00 when the meter starts.
• Each unit: $0.70.
• What a unit is: one-fifth of a mile when the taxi travels at 12 miles an hour or more, or 60 seconds when it travels at less than 12 mph (including stopped in traffic).

Two details explain most "why did the meter jump?" questions:

1. Distance and time are combined. The meter does not switch on and off between a distance meter and a clock. Rule 58-26(a)(1)(iv) says it must "combine fractional measures of distance and time" following Handbook 44 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the national standard for measuring devices. Half a unit of distance plus half a unit of waiting adds up to one unit.
2. The last unit is charged in advance. Rule 58-26(a)(1)(v) says the fare includes "pre-assessment of the unit currently being accrued". So the amount due can include a full 70 cents for a final unit that is only partly used. That is not an overcharge.

At 12 mph, one-fifth of a mile takes exactly 60 seconds, so the two kinds of unit cost the same at that speed. Above 12 mph you pay by distance; below it you pay by time. Green cabs (Street Hail Liveries) use the same meter rates for hail trips under Rule 82-26(a).

Every surcharge, tax and fee

Notes on the windows:

• Start time decides. Rush hour and overnight both depend on when the trip begins. A trip that starts at 7:58 p.m. on a Tuesday gets the $2.50 rush surcharge, not the overnight $1.00, even if it ends after 8 p.m. A trip that starts at 8:01 p.m. gets $1.00. Details are on when the rush hour surcharge applies.
• Two different congestion charges. The state surcharge zone is Manhattan south of 96th Street. The MTA toll zone is smaller: Manhattan at or below 60th Street. A trip from 80th Street to Penn Station pays both; a trip from 80th Street to 110th Street pays the state surcharge only. Whether you can lose money from either is covered in does the taxi driver pay the congestion surcharge?
• LaGuardia, green cabs. Green cabs add the $5.00 only on trips to LGA, because they cannot pick up hails at the airport. See can green cabs charge the LaGuardia surcharge?
• The airport access fee. The Port Authority's approved fee schedule set the taxi pickup fee at $2.00 from March 15, 2026, rising to $2.25 on March 15, 2027 and $2.50 on March 15, 2028.

What you may never add

TLC rules list things that are free for the passenger:

• Extra passengers and stops. The metered fare is the same "regardless of the number of passengers or stops" (Rule 58-26(a)(1)).
• Luggage and the trunk. No charge for "steamer trunks or other luggage or belongings" or "use of the Taxicab's trunk" (Rule 58-26(d)).
• Wheelchairs and mobility aids, carried inside the cab (Rule 58-26(d)(2)), and no extra charge for a service animal or an attendant (Rule 80-17(a)(3)-(4)).
• Paying by card. Rule 80-17(e)(1)(vi) bans any mark-up for card payments; fines run $200, $300 and $500 for first, second and third violations, and the judge may order a refund.

Charging any of these, or any surcharge outside its window, is an overcharge under Rule 80-17(a)(1). That carries the mandatory penalties in Rule 80-02(e): $350 if you plead guilty before a hearing or $500 after, for a first violation, and revocation if you charge or try to charge $10 or more above the approved fare. More on penalties is in the overcharging rules guide.

Rate codes 1 to 6

Your meter screen shows a rate message, and TLC's trip records store the final rate as a code. The yellow taxi data dictionary lists:

Codes 3, 4 and 5 are explained together in taxi trips outside NYC. A trip booked with an upfront price in an e-hail app (a Flex Fare) does not use the meter at all: the passenger pays the price accepted in the app, which TLC says includes all charges. Rule 58-26(i)(2) makes Flex Fare the only exception to "the Taximeter must be used for all trips".

Two worked examples

These trips are made up to show the arithmetic. The meter would count the exact units; here we assume round numbers.

Tips are added on top and are yours. If trip B used a toll bridge, the actual E-ZPass toll would be added and would go to whoever holds the tag. For the full money flow from the passenger's card to your daily payout, see who keeps what from a taxi fare.

Why the fare looks like this

TLC's last full fare change took effect on December 19, 2022 (Industry Notice #22-02, adopted rule). It raised the initial charge from $2.50 to $3.00, the unit from 50 to 70 cents, the improvement surcharge from 30 cents to $1.00, the rush surcharge from $1.00 to $2.50, the night surcharge from 50 cents to $1.00, the JFK flat fare from $52 to $70 and the Newark surcharge from $17.50 to $20, and it created the $5 LaGuardia surcharge. The state congestion surcharge was first collected on February 2, 2019 (NYS Notice N-19-2), and the MTA congestion toll started on January 5, 2025. The year-by-year story is in NYC taxi fare history, and what it did to the average trip is in yellow taxi fare per trip.

Estimate a fare

The estimator uses the same rates as this page. Real meters count units continuously, so a real receipt can differ by a unit or two. For the average size of each charge in real trips, see what's inside an average NYC taxi fare. Other money topics are on the money hub.