The Politics of New York's Stalled Taxi Plan

The yellow cab may be the transportation icon of New York City, but in truth its ubiquity is limited to the middle and lower parts of Manhattan. They rarely venture to the upper regions of the island — places like Harlem and Inwood, for instance — to say nothing of the outer four boroughs. A recent survey of pickup locations [PDF], conducted during a Tuesday evening rush hour this summer, found 92 percent of yellow cabs concentrated below 110th Street in Manhattan, which is the northern boundary of Central Park. Another 4 percent were found at the city's two major airports. That left just 4 percent of the entire fleet to service the rest of the city:

The underserved regions do have an option (besides, of course, public transit): the livery cab, which typically take the form of unmarked black sedans. Livery cabs come with a number of drawbacks. They only take cash. Their fares are negotiated rather than regulated. They cruise the streets honking incessantly at anyone on the sidewalk who looks even remotely interested traveling by some means other than on foot. And, strictly speaking, livery cabs are not even allowed to pick up passengers on the sidewalk. Legally, their rides must be arranged beforehand. This law isn't closely enforced, but because the cars aren't insured for street hails, any damages that result from an accident could be the passenger's own responsibility.