Taxi Medallion Types: Independent, Corporate, Named Driver

In short: A NYC taxi medallion carries three different kinds of label, and they answer three different questions. Independent vs corporate (minifleet) is about who may own it: an independent medallion goes only to an owner with no other medallion. Owner must drive vs named driver is a label in TLC's vehicle list about who drives, left over from a minimum-driving rule TLC says it repealed in 2016. Unrestricted, accessible or alternative fuel is about which car you may put on it. Today, every new car must be wheelchair accessible whatever the class.

This guide sorts out the three, with today's counts, so you know what you are buying or holding.

The three labels side by side

Independent vs corporate

The medallion system began with the Haas Act of 1937, which froze taxi licenses at the number then in use, 13,500, and set the ratio of corporate to independent medallions at 58 to 42 (TLC testimony, Feb 27, 2017). In TLC's words then:

• Corporate medallions "are typically owned by corporations and must be owned in groups of two or more with no limit on the number that can be owned."
• Independent medallions "can only be owned by an individual who is limited to owning just one."

Today's rules still keep the categories apart (rule 58-44(d)):

• An independent medallion can only be transferred to an approved individual or business entity that owns no interest in any other medallion.
• An independent owner must not have a financial interest (ownership or a security interest) in any other taxi.
• A minifleet medallion can only go to a buyer approved to own and operate a fleet or minifleet, and a minifleet owner must not hold an interest in an independent taxi.
• A fleet is a business that controls at least 25 taxis, has one location for storage, repair and dispatch, and keeps a dispatcher on site at least 18 hours a day (58-03(n)).

In 2017 TLC supported repealing the 58:42 ratio, saying the distinction "no longer serves its original purpose, to create a path to ownership for drivers". The ownership limits in the rules above are still in the current rule book (updated February 27, 2026). One practical effect: when an independent medallion is sold together with its car, the car can stay on that medallion (re-hack rule 67-06(d)(3)).

Owner must drive vs named driver

TLC's list of authorized medallion vehicles has a medallion_type field with two values:

The history behind the label, from the same 2017 testimony: Owner Must Drive rules, setting a minimum number of hours an independent medallion's owner had to drive each year, began in 1990. They were eased in 2011 (fewer hours, and up to four people could count as owners), eased again in 2015, and repealed in February 2016. TLC said this meant an independent owner "may now sell his medallion to any qualified buyer as opposed to searching for a buyer willing to personally drive."

So why does the label survive? TLC doesn't explain it in the dataset. Two sections of the current transfer rules (58-45(d) and 58-48) still mention an "Owner-Must-Drive Rule", but they point to a subsection (58-05(d)) that now covers business entities instead. If your medallion's driver requirements matter for a sale, a lease or an estate, ask TLC in writing and keep the answer.

Named driver is the other value. The rules let an owner file a "Long Term Driver Affidavit" saying the taxi will be operated by a long-term driver or by unspecified drivers, whose names or category are on file with TLC (58-03(r), (ll)). See named driver medallion.

Unrestricted, accessible and alternative fuel

This class matters every time you put a car on the medallion. Medallions sold at TLC auctions between 1996 and 2014 added some alternative-fuel and some accessible-only medallions (2017 testimony). Rule 67-05 sets what each class may use:

• Unrestricted: any approved accessible taxi model.
• Accessible: any approved accessible taxi model.
• Alternative fuel: an approved accessible model that is a hybrid electric or factory CNG vehicle. TLC's hack-up page adds that an Alt-Fuel Restricted medallion is required to hack up an accessible hybrid.

Since October 18, 2024, even an unrestricted medallion must be hacked up with an accessible vehicle. That narrowed the practical difference between classes to one question: may the car be a hybrid? See how to hack up a yellow taxi.

How type affects price

• Historically, independent medallions sold for less than corporate ones, because only someone owning no other medallion could buy one (2017 testimony).
• Today, TLC's monthly price sheets list sales by vehicle class. In January–September 2026 they show 413 priced unrestricted sales, but only 7 accessible and 1 alternative-fuel sale (TLC Help count). With so few, there is no reliable price for those classes. The going rate for unrestricted medallions is on medallion price history.
• Corporate stock sales (selling shares of a company that owns medallions) are listed separately from asset sales in the same sheets.

Counts today

• 13,587 medallions licensed (OFS 2024).
• 10,236 vehicles authorized on a medallion: 6,232 "Named Driver", 4,003 "Owner Must Drive" (Open Data, October 2026).
• 6,385 of those flagged wheelchair accessible.

Owning four or more medallions, directly or through companies, counts as a "substantial interest" under rule 58-03(bb); such an owner must keep business premises in a location zoned for business (58-17(a)). TLC doesn't publish a count of medallions by ownership category (independent vs minifleet) or by vehicle class in its open data. Owners can check their own medallion's details with TLC through a medallion ownership verification.

Related

Glossary: corporate medallion, independent medallion, named driver medallion, and base for the FHV side. Buying: buying a NYC taxi medallion. Market data: transfers and foreclosures. Port Authority enforcement at airports affects every type alike: Port Authority TLC summonses. More on the medallions hub.