Raising the Price of Cab Rides I’ll Never Take

The average taxi ride in January cost $11.82, for a trip of slightly less than three miles. A 20 percent increase would bring that fare to $14.18. A trip to Kennedy International Airport, which is currently $45, could reach $54, not counting the cost of tolls.

I rarely take taxi cabs anywhere unless it’s a last resort, and a proposed 20 percent fare increase means I’ll continue to stick to public transportation. The last time I paid $70 (including tolls and tip) to take a cab ride home from the airport, I kept thinking about how I could have used that money for groceries for the week, but I figured a 20-minute taxi ride beat waiting for a subway car in the middle of the night for god knows how long. One possible cost-effective solution: sharing a cab with a stranger, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.

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