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Jamaica, TLC taxi zone 130, is a transfer point for southeast Queens. Only four Queens zones had more pickups: 2,135,006 from September 2025 to August 2026, or about 5,849 a day. People ride in on weekday mornings and out in the evening, and most trips are short hops to nearby Queens neighbourhoods. Jamaica also has more green cab pickups than all but two Queens zones, and DOT lists taxi-stand signs at three spots here.
Jamaica at a glance (zone 130)
Zone 130 is a Queens "Boro Zone" in TLC's lookup table, a label for sorting trip data and not a legal line. It touches eight zones: Briarwood/Jamaica Hills, Jamaica Estates, Hollis, Saint Albans, South Jamaica, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill and Kew Gardens. Pickups (2,135,006) and drop-offs (2,124,672) are almost equal.
Morning in, evening out
On weekdays, 24.2% of drop-offs happen between 7 and 10 a.m., and the 8 a.m. hour alone has about 578. Pickups follow the reverse pattern: they build through the afternoon and peak at 5 p.m., with 24.4% of weekday pickups between 4 and 8 p.m. The single busiest pickup hour of the week is 6 p.m. on Saturday (about 378). Sunday's busiest pickup hour is midnight.
Short trips around southeast Queens
12.1% of trips stay inside Jamaica. The rest mostly go to neighbours: South Jamaica (8.8%), Saint Albans (5.6%), Baisley Park (5.5%), South Ozone Park (5%), Briarwood/Jamaica Hills (4.7%) and Richmond Hill (4.2%). Another 4.2% end outside New York City. Only 1.8% of app pickups paid the Congestion Relief Zone charge, and 3.5% went to an airport.
Green cabs, yellow cabs and app pay
Green cabs matter more here than almost anywhere in Queens: they made 15,502 pickups, next to 37,949 for yellow taxis and 2,081,555 (97.5%) for app services. Only Forest Hills and Elmhurst had more green pickups in Queens. Green cabs here did 1,070–1,557 pickups every month. Their median trip was 3.31 miles and $19.80, and card-paying green riders tipped 16.1% of the fare. See green cab pickups by zone.
The median app trip was 2.8 miles and 15 minutes, with a $16.83 fare and $14.20 driver pay before tips, exactly the middle value for Queens zones. App riders tipped 2.4% ($0.50 on average). Yellow pickups ran about 2,900–4,250 a month until May 2026, then about 1,900–2,200 a month in June to August.
Taxi stands in Jamaica: who may use them
DOT's parking-sign records (current signs, checked 2026-10-12) show "Taxi Stand" signs in zone 130 at:
- Hillside Avenue between 146th Street and Sutphin Boulevard
- Hillside Avenue between 162nd Street and Parsons Boulevard
- 179th Place between 90th Avenue and Hillside Avenue
These are sign records, not a count of stands, and posted signs win if they differ. TLC rules for stands (Chapter 80, §80-19):
- A yellow taxi may take any open spot on a stand. A green cab may too, because Jamaica is in the Hail Zone (§80-19(d)(1)).
- The first two cars on a stand must keep the driver in the seat, ready to go (§80-19(d)(6)).
- A taxi must not cruise for passengers within 100 feet of a stand (80-19(a)(4)(ii)).
- An Uber, Lyft or other FHV driver must not pick up at any taxi stand. The first violation costs $350 (80-19(d)(2)).
No relief stand was in zone 130 in DOT's relief-stand data. More: taxi stand rules.
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.
- Jamaica: trip facts by sector — Key trip facts for taxi zone 130 (Jamaica, 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.
- Jamaica: when trips start, by hour — Average pickups per day in each hour in zone 130, 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.
- Jamaica: pickups by month — Trips starting in taxi zone 130 (Jamaica, Queens) each month, by sector.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- Jamaica: where trips from here go — Top drop-off zones for trips starting in zone 130, 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 2,135,006 pickups. 'Outside NYC' = zone 265.
- Jamaica: where trips to here come from — Top pickup zones for trips ending in zone 130, 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 2,124,672 drop-offs.
- Jamaica: when trips arrive, by hour — Average drop-offs per day in each hour in zone 130, 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).
- Jamaica: drop-offs by month — Trips ending in taxi zone 130 (Jamaica, 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 Jamaica, Queens?
TLC trip records show 2,135,006 pickups in zone 130 from September 2025 to August 2026, about 5,849 a day. That is 5th of Queens' 69 taxi zones.
When is Jamaica busiest?
Riders arrive in the morning and leave in the evening. Weekday drop-offs peak at 8 a.m. (about 578 an hour), while weekday pickups peak at 5 p.m. (about 376). The busiest pickup hour of the week is 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Are there taxi stands in Jamaica?
DOT's sign records list 'Taxi Stand' signs at three spots in zone 130: Hillside Avenue between 146th Street and Sutphin Boulevard, Hillside Avenue between 162nd Street and Parsons Boulevard, and 179th Place between 90th Avenue and Hillside Avenue (checked 2026-10-12). Always follow the posted sign.
Can Uber or Lyft drivers pick up at a Jamaica taxi stand?
No. TLC rule 80-19(d)(2) says a for-hire driver must not pick up passengers at any taxi stand. The first violation is a $350 fine.
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 51 (Definitions) nyc.gov
- TLC Rules, Chapter 80 (Drivers) nyc.gov
- NYC Open Data: Parking Regulation Locations and Signs (DOT, nfid-uabd) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC Open Data: Taxi and FHV Relief Stands (DOT, vqu8-xef9) 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.