TLC Driver Survey 2026: What Nearly 4,000 Drivers Said

In short: In April 2026, TLC ran its first-ever survey of licensed drivers. Nearly 4,000 drivers answered, about 1,400 (36%) in a language other than English. Drivers named places to pick up and drop off (29.4%) and bathroom access (27.1%) as the biggest problems in their workday. They were split on whether TLC rules and fines are fair, mostly agreed that TLC requirements are easy to complete (70.2%), and were more negative about app companies, bases and fleets than about TLC. All figures below come from TLC's initial results, published June 12, 2026, with response counts as of June 9, 2026.

The numbers at a glance

Who answered

The last questions asked about the drivers themselves (2,986 answers each). Most respondents drive for the app companies, have long careers and drive full time:

• Tenure (Q14): 16.4% less than 3 years, 17.1% 3–6 years, 24.7% 7–10 years, 22.1% 11–20 years, 19.6% more than 20 years.
• Plans (Q15): 51.4% plan to drive "many years," 41.8% "a few years," 6.8% less than a year.
• Schedule (Q16): 74.6% full time all year, 6.3% full time seasonal, 14.6% part time all year, 4.6% part time seasonal.

Top problems

Asked what caused them the most frustration in the past year (Q9), drivers were evenly split: competition with illegal operators 28%, new rules and requirements 26.8%, fines and penalties 26%, licensing and renewals 13.2%, inspections 6.1%.

Views on TLC, apps, bases and fleets

What stands out:

• Fines and fairness are a coin toss. 40.8% agreed TLC rules are fair and 41.3% disagreed. On fines, 45.2% agreed and 38.7% disagreed.
• Paperwork is not the main complaint. 70.2% agreed that licensing, renewal and inspection are easy to complete.
• Private businesses get the worst score. "Strongly disagree" was the top answer (27.4%) on fair treatment by app companies, bases and fleets.

On TLC overall (Q1, 3,930 answers): 27.8% very satisfied, 19.4% somewhat satisfied, 20.6% neutral, 13.2% somewhat dissatisfied, 19% very dissatisfied. On how TLC's relationship with drivers has changed (Q2): 26.6% much better, 18.4% somewhat better, 32.2% about the same, 10.1% somewhat worse, 12.7% much worse.

Priorities drivers want

For the open question on what TLC should focus on (Q12), TLC printed example quotes under three themes: driver earnings and income, driver expenses, and TLC plate and license availability. Those are individual drivers' words, not measured facts; we don't repeat the dollar figures in them as data. For what the rules actually say about pay, see FHV driver minimum pay.

What the data can't tell you

The respondent mix is not the same as the working driver population. TLC's own industry indicators count drivers who actually made trips each month. They show app (high-volume) drivers far outnumbering taxi drivers, but one license covers several industries, so the lines overlap and can't be turned into exact shares:

How to take part next time

TLC says it plans to repeat the survey "periodically" to see how driver views change. It promoted the first one through industry emails, social media, TLC facilities and in-person outreach events. To get the next invitation, keep your email and phone number current with TLC (TLC's driver pages have an "Update Contact Information" section), and watch TLC's industry notices. Where TLC publishes its other studies: TLC Factbook and reports guide.

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