Yellow Taxi Fleet by Model: Sienna, RAV4, Transit Connect

In short: NYC's yellow taxis are mostly Toyotas. Of the 10,236 vehicles authorized on a medallion (TLC list, October 2026), 4,074 are Toyota Siennas (about 40%), 2,928 Toyota RAV4s (29%) and 1,654 Ford Transit Connects (16%), followed by the Nissan NV200 (643). 6,385 (62%) are listed as wheelchair accessible. Because every new hack-up since October 2024 must be accessible, the non-accessible RAV4s and sedans will drop out as they reach retirement.

TLC's vehicle list has no make or model column, so TLC Help decoded every vehicle's VIN with NHTSA's free vPIC decoder and published counts only (no VINs, plates or names).

The numbers at a glance

Models

Four models make up about 91% of the fleet. A few notes on each:

• Toyota Sienna (4,074). A minivan; accessible versions (hybrid model years 2021–2026 and gas 2014–2020) are on TLC's approved list with several converters. It is also the vehicle in the ATLAS loan pilot.
• Toyota RAV4 (2,928). A compact SUV. It is not on TLC's approved accessible list (revised October 2, 2026). These are cars hacked up before the accessible-only rule, allowed to run until scheduled retirement under rule 67-05(d).
• Ford Transit Connect (1,654) and Nissan NV200 (643). Both appear on the approved accessible list (Transit Connect rear entry 2014–2023; NV200 rear entry 2014–2019), so these are largely accessible taxis.
• Smaller groups: Ford Escape (508), Toyota Camry (270), Toyota Highlander (65), Toyota Prius V (22), Tesla Model 3 (14), Mercedes-Benz Metris (11), Kia Niro (10), Toyota Crown (9).

Accessible vs not

TLC's own list flags 6,385 vehicles as WAV and leaves 3,851 blank. TLC's 2025 Annual Report said that by the end of 2025 there were "over 6,000 accessible taxis in service", 56% of the taxis on the road, beating the court-ordered 50% target for active medallions (2025 Annual Report). The 62% here is a share of authorized vehicles on one day, not of taxis on the road, so the two numbers differ.

Why accessible cars keep growing: rule 67-06(a) allows only accessible models at hack-up, and accessible taxis have no set retirement date while they pass inspections (67-18). Non-accessible cars hacked up new must retire at the first scheduled inspection after 84 months. Details: can my taxi be a non-accessible car? and TLC vehicle retirement age.

Model years

Taxis are a young fleet: model years 2022 (17.8%), 2023 (15.8%), 2024 (14.0%) and 2025 (18.3%) make up two-thirds of it, and only about 1% is 2015 or older. The large 2025 group fits the surge in accessible hack-ups that TLC's TIF report describes for 2025.

Named driver vs owner must drive

These are labels in TLC's vehicle list. What they mean today, and how they relate to the old owner-must-drive rule, is explained in taxi medallion types.

How we counted (method)

1. Downloaded TLC's Medallion Vehicles – Authorized list (NYC Open Data rhe8-mgbb, updated October 11, 2026): 10,236 rows.
2. Decoded each VIN pattern with NHTSA's vPIC batch decoder to get make and model.
3. Counted vehicles per model. We publish counts only.

Limits: vPIC fuel and trim fields are imperfect, so we say "VIN decode indicates", not "TLC says". The WAV flag comes from TLC's own list, not from the decoder.

What the data can't tell you

• How each car is converted (rear or side entry, which converter). TLC's list doesn't say.
• How many trips each model makes. Trip records don't include the vehicle model.
• What owners paid. No purchase prices are published.

For all TLC vehicles including app cars, see TLC fleet by make and model and TLC licensed vehicles statistics. To drive one of these taxis: how to start driving a yellow taxi. How many are actually working each day: how many yellow taxis are in NYC? Approved accessible models: approved WAVs. More on the medallions hub.