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Upper West Side South (TLC zone 239) is a yellow-taxi-heavy zone where riders tip well. In the 12 months to August 2026 it had 2,606,860 pickups (about 7,142 a day), and 45.0% were yellow taxis, the 6th-highest share in Manhattan. Riders here tip more than almost anywhere else in the borough, and the busiest hour of the week is Saturday at 6 p.m.
These are TLC trip-record counts for yellow, green and Uber/Lyft trips, put together by TLC Help. Yellow tip rates count credit-card trips only; cash tips are not recorded.
Upper West Side South at a glance
On TLC's map zone 239 borders Upper West Side North (238), Central Park (43), Lincoln Square East (142) and Lincoln Square West (143). TLC labels it "Yellow Zone", a category in its data. The city's street centerline file lists Henry Hudson Parkway exit and entrance ramps at West 72nd and West 79th Streets in this zone.
When rides start and end
Evenings lead. On weekdays pickups peak at 6 p.m. (about 483) and 5 p.m. (about 467), and the 8 a.m. hour is close (about 436). Saturdays are the busiest days (about 8,027 pickups) and peak at 6 p.m. (about 551), the top hour of the week. Sundays peak at 1 p.m.
Drop-offs pile up in the weekday evening. About 577 trips end here in the 6 p.m. hour, and 24.2% of weekday drop-offs come between 5 and 8 p.m. On Sundays drop-offs peak in the late morning.
Through the year
December 2025 was the busiest month (243,059 pickups). The quietest were July (194,628) and August 2026 (187,486). August was about 10% below September 2025, close to Manhattan's overall drop of about 9%.
Where trips go
All ten top destinations are in Manhattan. Lincoln Square East (6.4%) and Upper West Side North (6.2%) lead, then Upper East Side North (5.1%) across the park. Midtown North, Midtown Center and Times Square together take 8.8%. 41.5% of app pickups and 36.1% of yellow pickups were charged the MTA Congestion Relief Zone fee, and 8.4% of app pickups went to an airport.
Fares, tips and pay
The median yellow trip is 1.7 miles, 11 minutes and $12.80 on the meter. App trips are longer (2.65 miles, 17.2 minutes, $23.10 fare), and median app driver pay is $17.28 per trip (tips and tolls excluded). Tips are the standout: 24.7% on yellow card trips and 7.1% on app trips.
Curb signs, lines and charges
At the Central Park West stand, take the rear position (80-19(d)(4)); for-hire drivers may not pick up there (80-19(d)(2)). The zone is inside the Hail Exclusionary Zone, so green cabs may not take hails or use the stand. By our check the whole zone is south of 96th Street, so every trip that starts here and ends in New York State pays the NYS congestion surcharge ($2.50 per yellow taxi trip, $2.75 per app trip, as of October 12, 2026). The MTA per-trip charge ($0.75 taxi, $1.50 app) applies only when a trip touches the zone at 60th Street or below (MTA). See 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.
- Upper West Side South: trip facts by sector — Key trip facts for taxi zone 239 (Upper West Side South, Manhattan) 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.
- Upper West Side South: when trips start, by hour — Average pickups per day in each hour in zone 239, 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.
- Upper West Side South: pickups by month — Trips starting in taxi zone 239 (Upper West Side South, Manhattan) each month, by sector.NYC TLC Trip Record Data (yellow, green, high-volume FHV), Sep 2025 – Aug 2026 · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- Upper West Side South: where trips from here go — Top drop-off zones for trips starting in zone 239, 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 2,606,860 pickups. 'Outside NYC' = zone 265.
- Upper West Side South: where trips to here come from — Top pickup zones for trips ending in zone 239, 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 2,490,313 drop-offs.
- Upper West Side South: when trips arrive, by hour — Average drop-offs per day in each hour in zone 239, 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).
- Upper West Side South: drop-offs by month — Trips ending in taxi zone 239 (Upper West Side South, Manhattan) 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 busy is the Upper West Side South for taxis?
Very. It had 2,606,860 pickups from September 2025 to August 2026, about 7,142 a day. Yellow taxis had 1,173,253 of them (45.0%), the 13th most yellow pickups of any NYC zone.
Do riders tip well on the Upper West Side?
Yes, by the data. Yellow card trips from here tipped 24.7% of the fare, 3rd highest in Manhattan, and app trips 7.1%, 2nd highest in Manhattan (about $2.32 a trip).
Is there a taxi stand in zone 239?
DOT's sign data lists taxi stand signs on the west side of Central Park West between West 77th and West 81st Streets. On the east side of Columbus Avenue on the same blocks there is a 'Taxi/FHV pick-up/drop-off only' sign, 7:30AM-7PM except Sunday.
When is the busiest hour?
Saturday at 6 p.m., with about 551 pickups. Saturdays average about 8,027 pickups, against 7,027 on a weekday. Weekday pickups peak at 6 p.m. too (about 483).
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 (PDF) nyc.gov
- TLC Rules Chapter 80: Rules Applicable to All Drivers (PDF) nyc.gov
- NYS Department of Taxation and Finance: Congestion surcharge tax.ny.gov
- MTA: Congestion Relief Zone taxi and FHV tolls mta.info
- 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
- NYC Open Data: Street Centerline (CSCL, inkn-q76z) 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.