The Cruising Cap Below 96th Street, Explained

In short: TLC rule §59D-21 limits how much time Uber and Lyft cars may spend driving around empty in Manhattan south of 96th Street. Since August 1, 2020, cruising may be no more than 31% of the time available app cars spend in that zone, from 6am to 11pm on weekdays and 8am to 11pm on weekends. The limit is on the company, not on you: Uber or Lyft is fined $350 for every 100 hours it goes over in a month.

You can't get a summons under this rule. But it explains why the apps watch how many drivers are logged on in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, and why you will see different "zones" for different charges.

The rule in plain words

The full text is in TLC Rules Chapter 59, §59D-21, "Restrictions on Cruising Time in the Manhattan Core." It has three parts:

• (a) The limit. A High-Volume For-Hire Service "must limit the total amount of time Available Vehicles spend Cruising while in the Congestion Zone." The limit was 36% from February 1, 2020 and became 31% from August 1, 2020. It applies 6am–11pm Monday to Friday and 8am–11pm Saturday and Sunday. Overnight hours are not counted.
• (b) How time is counted. Cruising is "all the time" a company's available cars spend in the zone "without a passenger," split between companies as described below. Wheelchair accessible vehicles are left out.
• (c) Review. TLC reviews compliance, service outside the zone and other information "no less than annually" to decide whether to change the limits.

Three defined terms from Chapter 51 make the rule work:

• Congestion Zone: "the geographic area of Manhattan south of and excluding 96th Street."
• Available Vehicle: an FHV "available to accept dispatched trips from a High-Volume For-Hire Service" — in practice, you are logged on and free.
• Cruising: time an FHV spends available for dispatch "while not transporting a passenger," and it "includes the time a For-Hire Vehicle spends driving to pick up a passenger."

How cruising time is computed: §59D-21(b)

Most app drivers keep both Uber and Lyft open. The rule has a method for that:

The rule's two examples, put together. The rule gives two separate examples; here they are combined into one (our illustration, not TLC's). A car spends 10 hours cruising in the zone while available to Company A and Company B. Two of those hours are driving to pickups for A, and three are driving to pickups for B. In the rule's (b)(1) example, A dispatched 800,000 trips in the zone and B 200,000. Using those volumes: A gets its 2 hours, B gets its 3 hours, and the remaining 5 hours are split 80/20, so A gets 4 more and B gets 1 more. Final count: 6 hours to A, 4 hours to B. (The rule's (b)(1) example alone: 10 hours, no en-route split, so 8 hours to A and 2 to B.)

The fine: $350 per 100 hours over

The penalty under §59D-21(a) is "$350 for each 100 hours by which the High-Volume For-Hire Service exceeds the limit" in the previous calendar month. The rule's example uses the old 36% cap: if cars spent 2,500,000 hours in the zone in March 2020 and 925,000 of them cruising, the company went over by 25,000 hours and faces an $87,500 fine. If a company goes over by more than 10%, TLC "may seek suspension of up to 30 days or revocation." Appearance at the hearing is required, for the company.

To check compliance, TLC requires each company to report, for every available car, the time it spends in the Congestion Zone and the time spent cruising there, plus entry and exit points (§59D-14).

Congestion Zone = below 96th Street (not 60th)

Three different lines cut across Manhattan, and drivers mix them up:

Charges are as listed in our rate file (as of 2026-10-12), from the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance and the MTA. Whether you pay congestion pricing when you drive in empty is a separate question: see do I pay congestion pricing driving empty?

What it means for you as a driver

• No summons for you under §59D-21. The duty and the fine belong to the company.
• Apps manage supply in the zone. The rules expect companies to control how many cars are available: TLC's record rules list "supply management" as a reason a company may report a car as unavailable (§59D-14). If you are blocked from logging on, the company must follow TLC's lockout rules: at least 72 hours' notice before restricting you on a calendar day, and at least 16 hours of access once you make yourself available, with exceptions for licensing problems, rule violations and misconduct (§59D-22(c)). See app lockouts and the 72-hour and 16-hour rules.
• Empty time costs you. TLC's minimum pay is per trip, for miles and minutes with a passenger. Cruising time is not paid directly. The empty miles data shows how much driving in Manhattan happens without a rider.
• WAV drivers are outside the count. Available wheelchair accessible vehicles are excluded from the company's cruising calculation (§59D-21(b)(3)), so time you spend available in a WAV does not add to the company's cruising total.

Step by step: if you think the cap is affecting your work

1. Write down what happens. Note the date, time, place and the message the app showed if you could not log on or were told the area is busy.
2. Check the lockout rules. Compare what happened with the 72-hour notice and 16-hour access rules in §59D-22(c).
3. Check your pay statement for each trip, not cruising time. Our pay statement guide shows what should be on it.
4. Report problems to TLC. Contact TLC's Driver Protection Unit at driverprotection@tlc.nyc.gov or (718) 391-5539 about app pay and access problems. This guide explains the rules; it is not legal advice, so talk to a lawyer or a driver advocate if you need help with a dispute.

Related reading: cruising miles, the FHV license cap, and green cab hail limits under 80-19(b)(1) and 82-13(a)(1).