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NYC Taxi & App Demand by Weekday and Month

Saturdays bring 35% more Uber/Lyft trips than Mondays; yellow cabs peak on Thursdays. August is the slowest month for both (TLC data, 2023–2026).

  • Reviewed
  • 3 min read
  • 3 official sources

Data used

On this page (6)
  1. By day of the week
  2. By month: seasonality
  3. Holidays and winter
  4. What it means for drivers
  5. FAQ
  6. Sources

In short: For Uber and Lyft, Saturday is the busiest day and Monday the slowest: in TLC trip records for September 2025 – August 2026, app trips averaged 803,771 on Saturdays against 593,727 on Mondays — 35% more. Yellow taxis peak earlier in the week, on Thursday (136,824), and are also slowest on Monday (106,160). Across the year, August is the slowest month for both, and May is the strongest for yellow taxis.

Weekday figures come from 12 months of trip records; monthly patterns use three years of TLC's industry indicators (August 2023 – July 2026) so that one odd month doesn't decide the answer.

By day of the week

Average trips per day, by day of the week

TLC trip records, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026. Yellow taxi, green cab and app (high-volume FHV).

Trips per day

MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
  • Yellow taxi
  • Green cab
  • App (high-volume FHV)
Show data table
LabelYellow taxiGreen cabApp (high-volume FHV)
Mon106,1601,450593,727
Tue122,2921,544627,332
Wed129,4471,602663,442
Thu136,8241,636704,502
Fri132,4031,519756,985
Sat134,8981,228803,771
Sun114,6811,166682,222

Source: NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · Data as of Oct 12, 2026. Aggregated by TLC Help from TLC trip records, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 (pickup date; TLC publishes trip files about two months after the month ends and may revise them). 'App' = high-volume for-hire services (Uber, Lyft). Taxi records with a negative fare (reversals) are excluded. Averages, medians and rates use 'clean' trips only: 1 minute to 4 hours, more than 0 and under 150 miles, fare above $0 and under $1,000.

Each weekday compared with Monday

Monday106,1600593,7270
Tuesday122,29215627,3326
Wednesday129,44722663,44212
Thursday136,82429704,50219
Friday132,40325756,98527
Saturday134,89827803,77135
Sunday114,6818682,22215

Source: TLC Trip Record Data, dataset trips-by-day-of-week (TLC Help calculation)

The two markets have different weeks. App demand builds through the week to a Saturday peak and stays high on Sunday. Yellow taxi demand is a weekday business: Tuesday to Saturday are all strong, and Sunday is barely above Monday. Green cabs follow the yellow pattern but are busiest midweek (Thursday 1,636) and quietest on weekends (Sunday 1,166). For the hour-by-hour picture within each day, see busiest hours.

Weekdays against weekends, the difference is clear. An average weekend day had about 743,000 app trips, 11% more than an average weekday (about 669,000). For yellow taxis the two are almost equal: about 125,400 trips on an average weekday and 124,800 on an average weekend day. So if you drive a yellow cab, weekdays are not a weaker choice; if you drive for the apps, Friday night through Sunday is where the extra trips are. Monday is the slowest day for yellow taxis and app trips. Five federal holidays in this period fell on Mondays (Labor Day, Columbus Day, MLK Day, Presidents' Day and Memorial Day), and most of them had fewer trips than a normal Monday, so they pull the Monday average down a little. Green cabs are the exception: their slowest day is Sunday.

By month: seasonality

Trips per day by industry, Aug 2023 – Jul 2026

TLC Industry Indicators. Each point is a month's average trips per day.

Trips per day

Jan 2024Jul 2024Jan 2025Jul 2025Jan 2026Jul 2026
  • Yellow taxi
  • Green cab (boro taxi)
  • High-volume FHV (app-based)
  • Black car
  • Livery
  • Luxury limousine
Show data table
LabelYellow taxiGreen cab (boro taxi)High-volume FHV (app-based)Black carLiveryLuxury limousine
Aug 202390,4851,957591,03221,35823,9151,324
Sep 202394,3512,181661,69819,75422,4591,598
Oct 2023112,9592,135651,17927,52430,5661,888
Nov 2023110,6432,133642,30824,92829,6711,787
Dec 2023108,2022,071661,81523,30226,1331,394
Jan 202494,7421,824634,32920,62228,0881,408
Feb 2024102,7081,847667,56022,63327,0991,519
Mar 2024114,3531,853686,47923,41128,4951,460
Apr 2024115,8131,879657,76524,95625,9281,243
May 2024118,8191,946667,88622,98626,7471,216
Jun 2024116,7721,805670,77223,02024,8151,119
Jul 202497,9291,658618,80218,24527,616876
Aug 202494,7311,653617,04321,77630,698791
Sep 2024119,9001,794640,32527,28930,5491,187
Oct 2024122,3121,807646,07225,73728,1531,296
Nov 2024120,1831,740666,25029,08235,7551,228
Dec 2024116,8201,701679,63925,64235,5681,137
Jan 2025110,6541,523658,24626,89933,0061,054
Feb 2025126,2701,630690,69427,10031,8731,610
Mar 2025132,1771,624662,47933,22339,4521,519
Apr 2025130,7181,701658,46528,49129,799970
May 2025146,4821,745680,35932,76941,1321,152
Jun 2025142,3201,602662,26532,62043,4351,126
Jul 2025123,7941,515633,96634,13145,3721,150
Aug 2025112,8421,450621,65831,17544,4031,027
Sep 2025138,6441,589647,81933,15443,9021,604
Oct 2025139,3161,557687,37534,50345,4261,084
Nov 2025135,4911,529693,93831,11643,611909
Dec 2025134,8931,521713,17425,45441,866920
Jan 2026116,4441,271672,21425,85141,5041,234
Feb 2026117,6941,304709,84026,96443,6011,344
Mar 2026122,8911,394711,54233,08743,8461,298
Apr 2026122,7331,444699,86332,28444,7451,346
May 2026127,4421,449713,73034,31843,4081,308
Jun 2026127,8371,439707,67020,74444,1461,488
Jul 2026113,8111,304674,87724,31143,2041,231

Source: NYC Open Data: TLC Industry Indicators (v6kb-cqej) · Data as of Oct 12, 2026. Monthly figures as published by TLC (tabulated from trip records). One license lets a driver work in several industries, so driver and vehicle counts overlap across lines and must not be added.

To see the regular yearly pattern, we averaged each calendar month over the three years and compared it with the yearly average (100 = a normal month):

Seasonal index of trips per day (100 = average month)

Average of each calendar month, Aug 2023 – Jul 2026, divided by the average of all 12 months.

Index

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
  • Yellow taxi
  • App (Uber/Lyft)
Show data table
LabelYellow taxiApp (Uber/Lyft)
Jan9098
Feb97104
Mar104103
Apr104101
May110103
Jun109102
Jul9497
Aug8492
Sep9998
Oct10599
Nov103100
Dec101103

Source: TLC Monthly Data Reports (industry indicators), TLC Help calculation

  • Yellow taxis swing a lot: from 84 in August to 110 in May. July (94) and January (90) are also weak. Spring and fall are strong.
  • App trips are much steadier, between 92 (August) and 104 (February). The summer dip is the only big move.
  • Green cabs are the reverse of yellow in summer: their strongest months were September to December (index 105–110).

The latest month shows the summer effect: yellow taxis averaged 113,811 trips a day in July 2026, against 127,837 in June. In the trip records, August 2026 fell further, to 107,184 a day:

Average trips per day by month, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026

TLC trip records (TLC Help aggregation). Matches the Industry Indicators closely but not exactly, because of cleaning rules.

Trips per day

Oct 2025Dec 2025Feb 2026Apr 2026Jun 2026Aug 2026
  • Yellow taxi
  • Green cab
  • App (high-volume FHV)
Show data table
LabelYellow taxiGreen cabApp (high-volume FHV)
Sep 2025133,2771,625647,821
Oct 2025132,4971,590687,377
Nov 2025126,2111,559693,941
Dec 2025137,3171,551713,175
Jan 2026118,8851,295675,496
Feb 2026120,4691,331709,846
Mar 2026126,8301,422711,560
Apr 2026127,2311,470699,865
May 2026131,5031,445713,734
Jun 2026127,4531,468692,529
Jul 2026113,4151,326674,879
Aug 2026107,1841,307661,080

Source: NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · Data as of Oct 12, 2026. Aggregated by TLC Help from TLC trip records, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 (pickup date; TLC publishes trip files about two months after the month ends and may revise them). 'App' = high-volume for-hire services (Uber, Lyft). Taxi records with a negative fare (reversals) are excluded. Averages, medians and rates use 'clean' trips only: 1 minute to 4 hours, more than 0 and under 150 miles, fare above $0 and under $1,000. Counts every trip record with a pickup in the month.

Holidays and winter

Holidays and storms create the deepest single-day drops: Christmas Day 2025 had 30% fewer trips than a usual Thursday, and the February 2026 snowstorm travel ban cut a Monday by 73%. Day-by-day detail: holiday and storm demand.

What it means for drivers

Busy days for trips are not automatically the best days to drive: on a Saturday more drivers are out too, and the data shows trips, not trips per driver. Use these patterns together with busiest pickup zones, airport pickups by hour and how many cars are on the road each day. Hour limits still apply on busy days — see driver hours.

More: summons timing, Access-A-Ride trips in do I have to take Access-A-Ride trips?, and the money hub.

Frequently asked questions

What is the busiest day of the week for Uber and Lyft in NYC?

Saturday. In TLC trip records for Sep 2025 – Aug 2026, app trips averaged 803,771 on Saturdays and 756,985 on Fridays, against 593,727 on Mondays, the slowest day.

What is the busiest day for yellow taxis?

Thursday, with 136,824 trips on average, followed closely by Saturday (134,898) and Friday (132,403). Monday is slowest (106,160).

Which month is slowest?

August. Averaging TLC's monthly figures for August 2023 to July 2026, yellow taxi trips in August were 16% below the yearly average and app trips 8% below.

Which month is busiest?

For yellow taxis, May (10% above average) and June. For app trips, the year is flatter: February, May and December were about 3–4% above average.

Sources

Last reviewed against the official sources on .

  1. TLC Trip Record Data (Sep 2025 – Aug 2026) nyc.gov
  2. TLC Monthly Data Reports (industry indicators CSV) nyc.gov
  3. NYC Open Data: TLC Industry Indicators (v6kb-cqej) data.cityofnewyork.us

Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it against the official source.

TLC Help is not a law firm and is not affiliated with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission or OATH. Explanations on this site are general information, not legal advice. Legal representation is provided by independent attorneys and OATH-registered representatives in our network.

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