Central Park Taxi Zone (43): Trips, Hours & Fares

Central Park (TLC zone 43) is yellow-cab territory. In the 12 months to August 2026, 59.9% of its 959,506 pickups were yellow taxis, the highest share of any NYC zone apart from Newark Airport, where pickups are rare. Pickups peak in the afternoon, drop-offs peak at 10 a.m., and three different charge and hail lines cross the zone.

TLC's trip records for yellow, green and Uber/Lyft trips, aggregated by TLC Help, are the source. The records assign each trip to a zone, not a street, so a pickup "in Central Park" can be on any street that TLC's zone shape covers.

Central Park at a glance

The zone has ten neighbors on TLC's map: Upper East Side South (237) and Upper East Side North (236) on the east, Upper West Side South (239), Upper West Side North (238), Manhattan Valley (151) and Bloomingdale (24) on the west, Central Harlem (41) and East Harlem South (75) to the north, and Lincoln Square East (142) and Midtown North (163) to the south. TLC labels it "Yellow Zone".

Three lines cross the zone

We compared TLC's zone shape with the city's street centerline file:

• MTA Congestion Relief Zone (60th Street and south): about 1.8% of the zone, the strip along its south edge between 59th and 60th Streets, is inside. Trips to, from, within or through the CRZ carry the per-trip charge; as of October 12, 2026 it is $0.75 per taxi or green cab trip and $1.50 per app trip (MTA). In the data, 60.8% of yellow and 63.6% of app pickups here were charged; many of these trips head into Midtown, the top destination.
• NYS congestion surcharge (south of 96th Street): about 72% of the zone is south of 96th Street and 28% north of it. Which side a trip starts or ends on decides the surcharge (NYS Tax).
• Hail Exclusionary Zone (south of East 96th and West 110th Streets): the park lies west of Fifth Avenue and south of 110th Street, so on a plain reading of Chapter 51 the whole zone is inside. The rule doesn't say how the line runs through the park. Green cabs still had 21,646 pickups here; the records can't show where in the zone they began or whether they were hails.

More: congestion relief zone boundaries and the CRZ toll page.

When rides start and end

Pickups are an afternoon event. Weekday pickups peak at 3 p.m. (about 228), Saturdays at 4 p.m. (about 304) and Sundays at 4 p.m. (about 252). Saturdays are the busiest days, with about 3,154 pickups. Nights are very quiet, at 1.9% of weekday pickups between midnight and 5 a.m.

Drop-offs come earlier. On every day type they peak at 10 a.m.: about 192 on weekdays, 297 on Saturdays and 263 on Sundays.

A seasonal zone

October 2025 was the busiest month (94,973 pickups) and February 2026 the quietest (59,941), 37% lower. August 2026 was about 18% below September 2025, a bigger fall than Manhattan's 9%. The yellow share also slipped in the summer, from 60–62% most months to 55% in July and 54% in August.

Where trips go

Trips fan out across Midtown and both sides of the park. Midtown Center (6.3%) is the top destination, then Upper East Side South (5.6%), Upper East Side North (5.4%) and Times Square/Theatre District (4.9%). Only 4.8% of app pickups and 1.2% of yellow pickups went to an airport.

Fares, tips and pay

The median yellow trip is 1.6 miles, 12.3 minutes and $12.80, with a 24.1% card tip rate. App trips are longer and pricier (2.46 miles, $24.97 fare); median app driver pay is $17.85 (tips and tolls excluded), and app riders tip about $2.28 a trip.

Taxi stand signs on Fifth Avenue

DOT's parking-sign data (updated October 11, 2026) places taxi stand signs on Fifth Avenue at the zone's eastern edge: the west side between East 79th and East 84th Streets, and the east side between East 81st and 82nd Streets and between East 88th and 89th Streets. DOT lists no relief stand in the zone. Yellow taxis take the rear position at a stand (80-19(d)(4)); for-hire drivers may not pick up there (80-19(d)(2)). See taxi stand rules.