Clinton East Taxi Zone (48): Trips, Hours & Fares

Clinton East (TLC zone 48), in Hell's Kitchen, is a late-night zone. TLC trip records for the year to August 2026 count 3,261,767 pickups here, or about 8,936 a day. The busiest hour of the week is Saturday at 10 p.m., and on Sundays the top hour is midnight. Uber and Lyft had 68% of pickups and yellow taxis 32%. The zone also has the Lincoln Tunnel approaches on its south side and seven DOT relief stands with 46 spaces.

Clinton East at a glance

Zone 48 covers the eastern part of Clinton, from about 40th Street to 57th Street on TLC's map. It has eight neighbours: Clinton West (50), Times Sq/Theatre District (230), Midtown North (163), Garment District (100), East Chelsea (68), West Chelsea/Hudson Yards (246), Lincoln Square East (142) and Lincoln Square West (143). Like most of Midtown, it carries TLC's "Yellow Zone" data tag, which is not a pickup rule.

When rides start: nights and weekends

Weekend nights are the core of this zone. An average Saturday has about 11,166 pickups, about a third more than a weekday (8,318). Saturday pickups peak at 10 p.m. (about 816), 11 p.m. (769) and midnight (679). On Sundays the order flips toward the small hours: midnight (725), 1 a.m. (633) and 2 a.m. (504) are the top three. More than a quarter of Sunday pickups come between midnight and 5 a.m.

Weekdays also end late. The top weekday hours are 10 p.m. (about 583) and 9 p.m. (570). About 11.6% of weekday pickups happen between midnight and 5 a.m., higher than in Times Square/Theatre District (9.9%) or Midtown Center (6.3%).

Drop-offs come earlier in the evening. They peak at 6 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, hours before the late pickup peak.

Month by month

December 2025 was the busiest month (295,077 pickups) and February 2026 the quietest (232,746). Summer 2026 held up: June and July 2026 each had more than 275,000 pickups.

Where trips go

The single biggest destination is outside New York City (TLC zone 265, 6.7% of pickups). Then come West Chelsea/Hudson Yards (4.5%) and East Chelsea (4.3%). Both city airports are in the top 10: LaGuardia with 3.1% and JFK with 2.4%. For app trips, 10.2% of pickups go to an airport. LaGuardia is also the 3rd most common origin for trips ending here (4.0% of drop-offs), and JFK the 8th (3.3%).

Fares and pay

App trips are fairly long: median 3.36 miles, 20.1 minutes and a $26.24 fare. The median app driver pay is $20.16 per trip (tips and tolls not included), with a $2.10 average tip. Yellow trips are a median 1.67 miles and $13.50 on the meter, with a 23.6% card tip rate.

Tunnel, congestion fee and hail lines

• Lincoln Tunnel: the city's street-centerline data puts Lincoln Tunnel exit roads and the Dyer Avenue approach in zone 48. Other ramps are in East Chelsea and West Chelsea/Hudson Yards. For tunnel tolls and the congestion crossing credit, see the Lincoln Tunnel page.
• MTA Congestion Relief Zone: Clinton East lies entirely below 60th Street, so every trip that starts or ends here is a Congestion Relief Zone trip: 99.6% of app pickups and 98.7% of yellow pickups were charged. As of 2026-10-12 that adds $1.50 to each Uber or Lyft fare and $0.75 to each taxi fare. The MTA FAQ explains how trips between New Jersey and the West Side Highway through the tunnels are tolled.
• NYS congestion surcharge: 6.7% of pickups here end outside New York City. Any of those that end outside New York State do not pay the state's congestion surcharge; in-state trips pay $2.50 (medallion taxi) or $2.75 (FHV), as of 2026-10-12.
• Hail Exclusionary Zone: the zone is below West 110th Street (Chapter 51), so no green cab hails; green cabs logged 195 pickups in a year. A for-hire driver who takes a street hail on a busy weekend night here risks 80-19(c)(2) penalties.

Relief stands and taxi stands

DOT's relief-stand dataset (updated October 1, 2026) puts seven relief stands with 46 spaces in zone 48. Four are open to taxis and FHVs, and three are for taxis only. DOT's current sign records (October 11, 2026) also show taxi-stand signs on seven street segments, including three blocks on the west side of Eighth Avenue (39th–40th, 41st–42nd and 56th–57th Streets).

On West 41st Street, the 15-space stand takes taxis and FHVs, while the 12-space stand at the Dyer Avenue end is taxi-only and posted for weekdays, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Every relief stand has a one-hour limit (DOT; 80-19(d)(7)). The seven taxi-stand sign locations are for taxis: an Uber or Lyft pickup there breaks 80-19(d)(2). All stands on a map: relief stand finder.