X

Green Cabs Don’t Serve Outer Boroughs Equally


February 2, 2015 | Christopher Inoa

NYC’s Boro Taxis are failing those who live in transportation dead-zones like Ozone Park, Red Hook, East New York and Jamaica, according to a report by DNAinfo. Though the green cabs, unveiled in August 2013, were meant to serve the city’s outer boroughs, the taxis are not serving every neighborhood equally.

In the first of a series of articles about the impact the Boro Taxis have made on the city, a map charting taxi trip data (originally reported by mapmaker Chris Wong on his personal blog) shows that from August of 2013 to June 2014 the neon cabs “are easy to find in such places as Washington Heights and Downtown Brooklyn, for example, but are scarce in Red Hook and Jamaica.”

Here’s one example of the disparity in service, from DNAinfo:

Out of nearly 18,000 green cab trips on June 24, 2014, the most recent day for which data was available, more than 1,300 trips started in East Harlem’s 10029 ZIP code, more than in any other part of the city, data show.

In contrast, more than 30 ZIP codes across the city saw just a single green taxi pickup that day.

The NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission is aware of the lack of service in these areas and has said in hearings that service will increase in those areas as more permits are given. The TLC expects to add 6,000 green cabs to its existing fleet of 12,000 by the end of 2015. Meera Joshi, Commissioner of the TLC said, “It’s our expectation that with the addition of additional cars, we’ll continue that spread-out of service.” Data so far has backed up this claim, DNAinfo reports, noting that areas such as “the South Bronx became more of a pickup hub, as did Park Slope and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.”

While some will be quick to blame the cab drivers for not going out further into the outer boroughs, one driver DNAinfo spoke to said that it’s not entirely the cabbie’s fault. According to 60-year-old Bodh Raj: “We can go to Ozone Park or Flushing, but it’s impossible to pick up customers there.”

(Photo: Dibaday)