The Taxi and Limousine Commission is pressing ahead with more locations for shared taxi rides. According to the Wall Street Journal, next up are the Port Authority Bus Terminal—passengers would be able to head from there to 59th Street and 6th Avenue for $3—and either LaGuardia or JFK Airports to a to-be-determined Midtown destination. These would be the first locations from facilities were there are actually taxi stands.
Last month, the TLC unveiled three locations on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Midtown West—all end at Grand Central— and the plan hasn't really caught on. TLC Commissioner David Yassky said he believes in the program, "I love this idea. It's a win all around if we can make it work. You have to do some waiting until people get comfortable with the notion of sharing a cab."
The shared taxi plan from either LGA or JFK airports would have a $20 flat fee per customer. Yassky thinks the shared plan would mean more money for drivers, who have so far been wary of the taxi share plan. The WSJ adds, "Mr. Yassky said he's also considering creating stands for livery cabs in the other four boroughs, where yellow taxis are much harder to come by. That way, riders could walk to a central location where they'd have a better chance of hiring a car."
