On this page (7)
Far Rockaway, TLC taxi zone 86, has the most local trips of any zone in Queens. Of the 588,248 pickups recorded from September 2025 to August 2026 (about 1,612 a day, 34th of Queens' 69 zones), 35.1% ended inside Far Rockaway, and another 16.5% next door in Hammels/Arverne. The biggest share of the rest, 20.5%, left New York City. No other destination took more than 3.3%.
Far Rockaway at a glance (zone 86)
TLC's lookup table files zone 86 as a Queens "Boro Zone"; the label sorts trip data and is not a legal border. On the TLC zone map its only neighbour inside the city is Hammels/Arverne, to the west on the Rockaway Peninsula. 498,445 trips ended here, about 90,000 fewer than started.
When rides start here
Unlike most Queens zones, Far Rockaway is busier on weekdays than on weekends: about 1,682 pickups on a weekday, 1,511 on Saturday and 1,359 on Sunday. Weekdays peak at 8 a.m. (about 131), and 20.9% of weekday pickups start between 7 and 10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday both peak at 3 p.m.
Where trips go: home, next door, or out of the city
Trips here split three ways. 35.1% stay in Far Rockaway, 16.5% go to Hammels/Arverne and 20.5% end outside the city (TLC zone 265; the data does not give the place). JFK takes 3.3% and Rockaway Park 2.1%. Jamaica, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens South each take about 1%. Of trips that end in Far Rockaway, 41.4% started inside the zone and 20.1% in Hammels/Arverne. Only 0.9% of app pickups paid the Congestion Relief Zone charge.
Sectors and pay
Apps made 578,104 pickups (98.3%), yellow taxis 10,119 and green cabs 25. App trips are short: a median of 2.19 miles and 10.8 minutes, with a $13.96 fare and $11.80 driver pay before tips. Pay per engaged hour was $67.77, 14th in Queens, because the trips are so quick; it leaves out waiting. Riders tipped 1.7% ($0.41 on average).
Yellow trips are the opposite: the median is 13.9 miles and 62.5 minutes, $46.50 on the meter, with card tips of 0.1%. Yellow pickups were 794–1,379 a month until May 2026 and 135–190 a month in June to August. We can't tell from the data why; TLC's yellow files also changed format in June 2026.
Tolls and rules for Rockaway trips
Leaving the peninsula for Queens or Brooklyn is toll-free for the passenger. Under TLC rules for taxis (§58-26(f)(1)) and for-hire vehicles (§59A-23(b)(1)), a trip from the Rockaway Peninsula over the Cross Bay Bridge to Queens or over the Marine Parkway Bridge to Brooklyn carries no toll for the passenger. Trips the other way, onto the peninsula, are charged two times the toll. See Cross Bay and Marine Parkway. For trips that leave the city, the passenger pays all necessary tolls to and from (§58-26(f)(2)); fares outside NYC are explained in taxi trips outside NYC.
Far Rockaway is in the Hail Zone (Chapter 51); app drivers need a base booking (80-19(c)(1)). DOT data showed no relief stand or taxi-stand sign in zone 86 on 2026-10-12; the nearest relief stand in DOT data is in Hammels/Arverne.
Nearby zones
Data on this page
Aggregates of public data. They describe trips and vehicles, never individual people.
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. 'Fare' is the metered fare_amount for taxis and base_passenger_fare for app trips — before tolls, tips, taxes and surcharges — so it is not what the passenger paid in total. App driver_pay is TLC's 'total driver pay (not including tolls or tips and net of commission, surcharges, or taxes)'. Tips are separate. 'Per engaged hour' divides pay by passenger time only (pickup to drop-off). It leaves out time driving to pickups and waiting for requests, so real hourly earnings are lower; it is not the TLC minimum-pay formula. Monthly cells with 1–9 trips are shown as blank (null). Pairs with fewer than 10 trips are not listed.
- Far Rockaway: trip facts by sector — Key trip facts for taxi zone 86 (Far Rockaway, Queens) by sector, 12 months.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Taxi tips: tip_amount records credit-card tips only (cash tips are not recorded), so taxi tip rates use credit-card trips (payment_type 1). App tips are the tips field on every trip. Tip rate = tips ÷ fare. Medians and rates need at least 250 trips in the cell (else blank); counts of 1–9 are blank. Pickup-side stats (fare, pay, tips) describe trips that START here.
- Far Rockaway: when trips start, by hour — Average pickups per day in each hour in zone 86, on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays (all sectors).NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Average over all such days in the window, holidays included.
- Far Rockaway: pickups by month — Trips starting in taxi zone 86 (Far Rockaway, Queens) each month, by sector.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- Far Rockaway: where trips from here go — Top drop-off zones for trips starting in zone 86, as a share of all its pickups (12 months, all sectors).NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Out of 588,248 pickups. 'Outside NYC' = zone 265.
- Far Rockaway: where trips to here come from — Top pickup zones for trips ending in zone 86, as a share of all its drop-offs (12 months, all sectors).NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Out of 498,445 drop-offs.
- Far Rockaway: when trips arrive, by hour — Average drop-offs per day in each hour in zone 86, on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays (all sectors; hour of pickup).NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Hour is the trip's pickup hour (TLC records both, but a trip is binned by when it started).
- Far Rockaway: drop-offs by month — Trips ending in taxi zone 86 (Far Rockaway, Queens) each month, by sector.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- All 263 taxi zones: trips and key facts (map-ready) — One row per TLC taxi zone (LocationID 1–263) with pickups, drop-offs, sector mix, app driver pay, fares and tip rates — the source for zone maps, hubs and the zone explorer.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026Medians/rates need ≥250 trips (else null). labels are LocationIDs as strings; zones[] has names, boroughs, service_zone (from taxi_zone_lookup.csv), suggested slugs and neighbouring zone ids (shared boundary, from taxi_zones.zip).
Frequently asked questions
How many rides start in Far Rockaway?
TLC trip records show 588,248 pickups in zone 86 from September 2025 to August 2026, about 1,612 a day, 34th of Queens' 69 zones.
Do Far Rockaway trips stay local?
More than anywhere else in Queens. 35.1% of pickups end inside Far Rockaway and 16.5% in Hammels/Arverne next door. 20.5% end outside New York City. Every other destination takes under 4%.
Who pays the bridge toll on a trip from Far Rockaway to Queens or Brooklyn?
On a taxi or FHV trip from the Rockaway Peninsula over the Cross Bay Bridge to Queens, or over the Marine Parkway Bridge to Brooklyn, the passenger pays no toll under TLC rules. Trips onto the peninsula over those bridges are charged two times the toll.
When is Far Rockaway busiest?
Weekday mornings: about 131 pickups start in the 8 a.m. hour. Weekdays are busier than weekends here, and both Saturday and Sunday peak at 3 p.m.
Sources
Last reviewed against the official sources on .
- NYC TLC Trip Record Data nyc.gov
- TLC Taxi Zone Lookup Table d37ci6vzurychx.cloudfront.net
- TLC Rules, Chapter 58 (Taxicab Owners), §58-26 nyc.gov
- TLC Rules, Chapter 59 (For-Hire Vehicles), §59A-23 nyc.gov
- TLC Rules, Chapter 51 (Definitions) nyc.gov
- NYC Open Data: Taxi and FHV Relief Stands (DOT, vqu8-xef9) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC Open Data: Parking Regulation Locations and Signs (DOT, nfid-uabd) data.cityofnewyork.us
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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.