Gowanus Taxi Zone (106): Trips, Hours & Fares

Gowanus (TLC zone 106) is a small zone that sends most of its riders next door. In the 12 months to August 2026, 599,604 trips started here (about 1,643 a day). Apps did 97.9% of them. One pickup in eight (12.2%) ends in Park Slope, and the evening rush runs late: on weekdays, pickups at 9 and 10 p.m. are nearly as busy as at 6 p.m.

Numbers come from TLC trip records (yellow, green and high-volume app trips, Sep 2025 – Aug 2026), aggregated by TLC Help. Non-app black car and livery trips are not included.

Gowanus at a glance

In TLC's zone lookup, zone 106 is a Brooklyn "Boro Zone". That is a data category, not a legal boundary. Its five neighbors in TLC's zone map are Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Red Hook and Sunset Park West.

Gowanus ranks 44th of 61 Brooklyn zones by pickups. More trips start here (599,604) than end here (568,680), mostly because of app trips. Yellow taxis show the opposite: 23,000 yellow drop-offs against 12,665 yellow pickups.

When rides start

On weekdays the curve has a long evening top. The 6 p.m. hour is the busiest (about 111 pickups), but 9 p.m. (103) and 10 p.m. (102) are close behind. Weekday mornings are much lighter.

Saturday is the biggest day, with about 2,205 pickups against 1,506 on a weekday. Its peak is the 11 p.m. hour (about 147), and the midnight hour opens Sunday at about 131. Sunday daytime is calmer, with roughly 100–106 pickups an hour from 4 to 6 p.m.

Month by month

From October 2025 to August 2026, every month but one had between about 48,000 and 52,000 pickups. The exception was May 2026, the high point (54,653). September 2025 was the low (44,361). Yellow pickups stayed between about 840 and 1,350 a month all year.

Where trips go

Park Slope dominates. After it, trips scatter across west and central Brooklyn:

• Park Slope: 12.2%
• Sunset Park West: 5.0%
• Crown Heights North: 3.9%
• Boerum Hill: 3.8%
• Carroll Gardens: 3.3%
• Red Hook: 3.1%

Unlike most Brooklyn zones, Gowanus itself is not in its own top ten. Short rides inside the zone are rare. Park Slope is also the top origin of trips that end here (10.8% of drop-offs).

Fares, trip length and driver pay

The median app trip is 2.74 miles and 16.3 minutes, with an $18.78 fare. The median driver pay is $15.27 before tips and tolls, 20th of 61 in Brooklyn. Tips run above the borough norm: 6.4% of fares, $1.57 on average.

Airport runs are a modest but real part of app work: 4.2% of app pickups, against a Brooklyn zone median of 2.6%. Of the yellow pickups, 26.7% were charged the Manhattan congestion fee, which means a trip into Manhattan at or below 60th Street. Green cabs had too few trips (175) for medians.

Pickup rules and the nearest relief stand

Gowanus is in TLC's Hail Zone. Yellow and green cabs may take street hails. App drivers may pick up only riders dispatched through their base (80-19(c)(1)). On trips into the Congestion Relief Zone, riders pay $1.50 per app trip or $0.75 per taxi trip as of 2026-10-12 (MTA). For the full rules, see who can pick up where. This is general information, not legal advice.

Stands: DOT's open data shows no relief stand and no taxi-stand sign inside zone 106 (checked October 12, 2026). Brooklyn has only three relief stands in DOT's data. The closest of the three is in the neighboring Park Slope zone, on the east side of 4th Avenue between Prospect Avenue and 16th Street. It has 3 spaces and its sign reads "TAXI/FHV RELIEF STAND 1 HOUR LIMIT MONDAY-FRIDAY 8AM-6PM" (vqu8-xef9). TLC rule 80-19(d)(7) says drivers must obey the posted vehicle types and time limits at relief stands (Chapter 80). See taxi relief stands.