Uber/Lyft Trips by Borough: Outer-Borough Growth Data

On this page (9)

The numbers at a glance
TLC's borough table: January 2025 vs January 2026
The monthly trend since 2019
Why Manhattan fell, in TLC's words
Uber requests sent to yellow taxis
What it means for where you drive
What the data can't tell you
FAQ
Sources

In short: Uber and Lyft trips are growing outside Manhattan and flat or falling inside it. TLC's February 2026 report found app pickups down 6.1% in Manhattan from January 2025 to January 2026, and up 7.5% to 9.4% in the other four boroughs (TLC FHV License Review, Feb 2026). Newer monthly counts through August 2026 show the same pattern, though Manhattan is flat rather than down: +0.3% for January–August 2026 against the same months of 2025, while the Bronx grew 10.0% and Staten Island 11.0% (NYC Open Data c5iv-bn4s, checked October 12, 2026).

"App" here means TLC's high-volume for-hire services. Only two companies hold that license today: Uber and Lyft (TLC report above).

The numbers at a glance

TLC's borough table: January 2025 vs January 2026

High-volume FHV trips by borough, January 2025 vs January 2026

As printed in TLC's table. The report's text swaps the Brooklyn and Staten Island percentages; the table is shown here.


Bronx	2,591,558	2,786,538	7.5%
Brooklyn	5,458,874	5,916,553	8.4%
Manhattan	7,784,756	7,306,653	-6.1%
Queens	4,260,487	4,591,439	7.8%
Staten Island	309,217	338,158	9.4%

Source: TLC: For-Hire Vehicle License Review, February 2026 (Table 2)

TLC says this was "the second year in a row" that Manhattan pickups fell, after a drop of "roughly 1%" in the period covered by its previous report.

The monthly trend since 2019

TLC's Open Data counts every month's app pickups by zone, so we added them up by borough.

Uber and Lyft pickups per month, by borough, Jan 2019 – Aug 2026

Monthly high-volume FHV pickups by the borough of the pickup zone. Queens includes JFK and LaGuardia. The 2020 drop is the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trips

Manhattan
Brooklyn
Queens
Bronx
Staten Island

Show data table

Label	Manhattan	Brooklyn	Queens	Bronx	Staten Island
2019-01	10,422,589	5,589,571	3,603,470	2,414,071	214,422
2019-02	9,189,058	5,280,079	3,320,161	2,167,500	199,698
2019-03	10,221,605	6,396,620	4,145,987	2,841,105	256,479
2019-04	9,266,958	5,776,210	3,879,175	2,576,007	233,174
2019-05	9,581,294	5,894,296	4,063,297	2,543,776	243,766
2019-06	8,923,108	5,632,955	3,881,601	2,328,379	232,288
2019-07	8,707,607	5,328,009	3,790,412	2,245,522	227,812
2019-08	8,549,274	5,280,133	3,850,822	2,216,005	227,947
2019-09	8,777,940	5,257,975	3,694,876	2,111,400	225,137
2019-10	9,518,203	5,353,908	3,822,769	2,225,246	240,398
2019-11	9,375,123	5,644,699	3,872,843	2,488,110	253,169
2019-12	9,246,478	5,858,468	4,210,800	2,660,493	265,624
2020-01	8,732,855	5,355,187	3,804,963	2,432,992	239,111
2020-02	9,411,188	5,670,651	3,798,073	2,597,496	245,870
2020-03	4,953,153	3,735,780	2,437,394	2,086,597	178,818
2020-04	1,047,107	1,381,571	762,728	1,051,091	70,011
2020-05	1,546,177	1,936,300	1,085,276	1,425,429	96,223
2020-06	2,056,281	2,411,591	1,421,817	1,549,157	115,085
2020-07	2,974,414	3,095,870	1,891,382	1,846,523	148,546
2020-08	3,533,902	3,435,191	2,053,912	1,916,934	154,628
2020-09	4,083,387	3,666,526	2,182,427	2,007,098	164,514
2020-10	4,866,299	3,842,711	2,328,390	2,049,860	178,539
2020-11	4,063,417	3,444,633	2,084,316	1,847,610	155,930
2020-12	3,789,901	3,508,728	2,192,673	1,972,180	162,455
2021-01	3,924,402	3,560,560	2,187,443	2,045,812	169,516
2021-02	3,910,799	3,523,269	2,162,798	1,853,523	162,431
2021-03	4,910,460	4,189,261	2,619,925	2,292,816	213,397
2021-04	5,055,483	4,080,913	2,630,119	2,128,558	207,330
2021-05	5,477,260	4,186,551	2,810,473	2,034,658	208,480
2021-06	5,705,227	4,208,983	2,878,281	1,956,442	211,355
2021-07	5,719,143	4,149,719	2,982,938	1,961,779	212,204
2021-08	5,445,034	4,014,157	2,928,360	1,903,630	207,173
2021-09	6,007,254	3,915,634	2,922,934	1,834,098	205,163
2021-10	6,942,051	4,346,147	3,106,512	1,927,464	222,243
2021-11	6,644,148	4,165,893	3,085,050	1,928,816	217,747
2021-12	6,427,408	4,196,749	3,166,435	2,035,667	228,165
2022-01	5,758,317	4,030,466	2,878,444	1,873,891	210,077
2022-02	6,700,087	4,229,828	2,961,336	1,914,128	213,371
2022-03	7,683,011	4,804,038	3,492,962	2,225,131	247,811
2022-04	7,422,660	4,570,493	3,421,085	2,104,210	233,810
2022-05	7,523,172	4,653,049	3,640,737	2,096,182	241,306
2022-06	7,368,248	4,600,443	3,545,114	2,034,733	230,988
2022-07	7,141,477	4,532,410	3,536,819	2,024,286	226,155
2022-08	6,921,884	4,445,982	3,568,346	2,024,218	223,478
2022-09	7,461,343	4,497,954	3,633,210	1,976,277	224,243
2022-10	8,248,330	4,904,132	3,771,683	2,129,280	245,906
2022-11	7,585,767	4,602,187	3,564,317	2,092,229	239,402
2022-12	8,213,591	5,001,311	3,881,226	2,301,965	266,772
2023-01	7,578,804	4,784,589	3,666,870	2,197,976	249,800
2023-02	7,527,415	4,620,518	3,440,907	2,133,275	238,030
2023-03	8,296,068	5,297,785	4,027,636	2,506,428	284,905
2023-04	7,899,227	4,905,394	3,803,736	2,278,169	257,610
2023-05	8,001,412	5,117,623	4,077,806	2,369,050	281,075
2023-06	7,783,706	5,068,134	3,980,142	2,264,822	269,116
2023-07	7,607,920	4,944,338	4,025,148	2,279,276	275,099
2023-08	7,081,268	4,759,961	3,967,487	2,246,382	266,611
2023-09	8,107,404	5,095,117	4,113,105	2,260,811	274,079
2023-10	8,274,755	5,163,057	4,142,148	2,320,009	282,582
2023-11	7,758,075	4,937,438	3,982,135	2,312,873	276,891
2023-12	8,158,545	5,325,593	4,235,171	2,493,252	302,951
2024-01	7,863,748	5,108,616	4,040,656	2,368,774	281,737
2024-02	7,750,225	5,089,746	3,838,878	2,400,199	279,523
2024-03	8,253,790	5,697,597	4,331,222	2,683,237	314,260
2024-04	7,780,497	5,150,095	4,059,831	2,458,558	283,287
2024-05	8,116,801	5,433,458	4,329,733	2,521,812	301,892
2024-06	7,695,987	5,434,819	4,246,928	2,452,835	291,798
2024-07	7,333,089	5,046,317	4,133,532	2,382,451	286,738
2024-08	7,150,930	5,082,818	4,187,893	2,420,032	285,929
2024-09	7,469,053	5,066,707	4,079,265	2,311,678	282,339
2024-10	7,896,983	5,199,048	4,199,142	2,436,699	295,618
2024-11	7,798,478	5,293,407	4,119,180	2,478,183	297,481
2024-12	7,980,907	5,570,035	4,532,041	2,659,646	325,464
2025-01	7,784,756	5,458,874	4,260,487	2,591,558	309,217
2025-02	7,406,664	5,179,230	3,989,407	2,469,902	293,548
2025-03	7,628,723	5,502,926	4,362,504	2,721,892	320,027
2025-04	7,516,147	5,184,087	4,205,848	2,544,641	302,414
2025-05	7,776,879	5,670,627	4,627,661	2,686,305	330,614
2025-06	7,122,571	5,433,158	4,453,221	2,541,614	316,533
2025-07	7,033,935	5,228,249	4,464,502	2,606,535	318,858
2025-08	6,737,875	5,211,292	4,443,659	2,570,527	307,228
2025-09	7,407,992	5,101,529	4,236,950	2,391,633	295,713
2025-10	8,115,509	5,630,118	4,550,795	2,678,311	327,099
2025-11	7,763,438	5,651,350	4,412,696	2,666,152	323,642
2025-12	7,863,305	6,059,799	4,883,023	2,936,288	364,957
2026-01	7,306,666	5,916,553	4,591,445	2,786,538	338,158
2026-02	6,917,973	5,618,655	4,343,977	2,661,885	332,195
2026-03	7,727,125	6,043,296	4,814,928	3,097,385	374,533
2026-04	7,635,261	5,609,335	4,551,421	2,859,765	339,120
2026-05	7,903,210	6,008,006	4,919,619	2,934,142	359,584
2026-06	7,301,146	5,849,179	4,877,316	2,849,750	353,967
2026-07	7,402,767	5,590,092	4,771,345	2,813,178	342,619
2026-08	6,978,626	5,605,788	4,774,073	2,800,844	333,024

Source: NYC Open Data: Pickups and Drop-offs by Taxi Zone and Industry (c5iv-bn4s)

App pickups per year by borough, and each borough's share

2026 = January to August only. Queens includes JFK and LaGuardia. Shares are of the five boroughs' total.


2019	111,779,237	67,292,923	46,136,213	28,817,614	2,819,914	43.5%
2020	51,058,081	41,484,739	26,043,351	22,782,967	1,909,730	35.6%
2021	66,168,669	48,537,836	33,481,268	23,903,263	2,465,204	37.9%
2022	88,027,887	54,872,293	41,895,279	24,796,530	2,803,319	41.4%
2023	94,074,599	60,019,547	47,462,291	27,662,323	3,258,749	40.5%
2024	93,090,488	63,172,663	50,098,301	29,574,104	3,526,066	38.9%
2025	90,157,794	65,311,239	52,890,753	31,405,358	3,809,850	37%
2026 (Jan–Aug)	59,172,774	46,240,904	37,644,124	22,803,487	2,773,200	35.1%

Source: NYC Open Data: Pickups and Drop-offs by Taxi Zone and Industry (c5iv-bn4s), summed by TLC Help

Three things stand out:

Manhattan has never recovered its 2019 level. It had 111.8 million app pickups in 2019 and 90.2 million in 2025.
Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island passed their 2019 levels by 2025. Queens went from 46.1 million to 52.9 million and the Bronx from 28.8 million to 31.4 million. Brooklyn came close (65.3 million in 2025 against 67.3 million in 2019) and is running 7.9% ahead of 2025 so far in 2026.
Manhattan's share has fallen every year since 2022, from 41.4% of app pickups in 2022 to 35.1% in January–August 2026 (it was 43.5% in 2019).

For the 12 months to August 2026, our count from the raw trip records gives the full split by industry:

Pickups by borough and industry, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026

Yellow taxis are almost entirely a Manhattan and airport business; app trips are spread across all five boroughs.

Trips

Yellow taxi
Green cab
App (high-volume FHV)

Show data table

Label	Yellow taxi	Green cab	App (high-volume FHV)
Manhattan	39,511,619	309,402	90,172,757
Brooklyn	1,633,053	83,237	68,555,179
Queens	4,101,162	122,544	55,620,318
Bronx	357,585	12,055	33,419,216
Staten Island	4,401	71	4,076,632
Newark Airport	6,376	11	17

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. Queens includes JFK and LaGuardia. Pickups in unknown zones (264/265) are left out.

Why Manhattan fell, in TLC's words

TLC gave "several possible explanations" for the Manhattan drop (report, p. 3):

Congestion pricing. 2025 was the first full year of the MTA program, with per-trip charges of $0.75 for taxis and $1.50 for app trips in the zone. TLC quoted MTA figures showing app trips crossing into the Congestion Relief Zone down 4.5% from January to September 2025, while taxi trips rose 17%.
Uber forwarding trips to taxis, which TLC said "may be a larger factor".

Uber requests sent to yellow taxis

Uber forwards some ride requests to yellow taxis through the e-hail apps Curb and Arro. TLC reported that more than 80% of trips that app companies forwarded to taxis had Manhattan pickups, and that "over 800,000 Uber trip requests in Manhattan were forwarded to taxis" in the latest month of data. TLC's view: "If these trips were fulfilled directly by the high-volume companies instead of taxis, Manhattan would have likely seen an increase in trips in January 2026", and the practice "likely supported the growth" in outer-borough trips. More in Uber trips sent to yellow taxis.

TLC also reported that wait times stayed in their usual range: 5.4 minutes on average citywide in January 2026, with every borough between 4.4 and 6.6 minutes. See rideshare wait time statistics.

What it means for where you drive

App demand is now big everywhere. In 2025 Brooklyn had 65.3 million app pickups, more than seven in ten of Manhattan's 90.2 million.
Trips that start in a borough mostly stay there. See borough-to-borough trip flows for how often a Bronx or Brooklyn pickup ends in Manhattan.
More trips doesn't mean more pay per hour. Your pay depends on TLC's minimum pay formula, trip length and your waiting time; see FHV driver minimum pay.
Breaks are harder outside Manhattan. Relief stands are concentrated in Manhattan and Queens; see the relief stand gap by borough.

What the data can't tell you

Why any one trip moved. TLC's explanations are its own; the data show counts, not causes.
Driver supply. Pickup counts don't show how many drivers were working in each borough.
Black car and livery trips outside Uber and Lyft are not in these counts.
Small revisions. TLC updates files; our January 2026 Manhattan figure from Open Data (7,306,666) differs from the report (7,306,653) by 13 trips.

Frequently asked questions

Which borough has the most Uber and Lyft trips?

Manhattan, but its lead is shrinking. In 2025 app pickups were 90.2 million in Manhattan, 65.3 million in Brooklyn, 52.9 million in Queens (including the airports), 31.4 million in the Bronx and 3.8 million on Staten Island (TLC Open Data c5iv-bn4s).

Did Uber trips fall in Manhattan?

In January 2026 they were 6.1% below January 2025, according to TLC's February 2026 FHV License Review. Over January to August, though, Manhattan app pickups were nearly flat (+0.3% in 2026 vs 2025), while the other boroughs grew 7.9% to 11.0%.

Why did Manhattan app trips drop?

TLC named two possible reasons: the $1.50 per-trip congestion charge on app trips, and, it said likely a larger factor, Uber forwarding Manhattan trip requests to yellow taxis through the Curb and Arro apps. TLC said over 800,000 Uber requests in Manhattan were forwarded to taxis in the latest month it reported.

Does this mean I should drive in the outer boroughs?

The data show where trips are growing, not where you will earn more. More trips can also mean more drivers. Check zone pages for pay per trip and when trips happen before changing where you work.

Sources

Last reviewed against the official sources on Oct 12, 2026.

TLC: For-Hire Vehicle License Review, February 2026 nyc.gov
NYC Open Data: Pickups and Drop-offs by Taxi Zone and Industry (c5iv-bn4s) data.cityofnewyork.us
NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 nyc.gov

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.