The last taxi ride5/1/2023 “It’s heartbreaking,” Desai says.ĭesai fears the pandemic will be a “breaking point” for many drivers already suffering financial hardships due to competition with ride-sharing apps and crushing loans they took out to buy medallions, which are permits the city requires to own a yellow cab. The TLC said it’s still tracking fatality figures, but Bhairavi Desai, NYTWA’s executive director, says at least 50 drivers have died from COVID-19 so far. “It’s like a movie right now,” Mohamed Eleissawy, a 63-year-old taxi driver, says of the abandoned metropolis. The world-famous transportation hub is near-vacant, and silence has replaced the usual clamor of rush-hour traffic. on a recent Monday, cabs are lined up, but most are waiting in vain. Outside of Grand Central Terminal at 9 a.m. All of the traditional fares have disappeared.” “It’s a staggering number that we’ve never experienced before,” MTBOT spokesman Michael Woloz says. The city’s Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) did not disclose its data, but the MTBOT, which represents about half of the entire taxi industry, says fares across its fleets have dropped about 94%. The number of cab rides in the city fell from about 506,000 during the first week of March to roughly 28,500 during the week of May 4, according to the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade (MTBOT), the city’s largest taxi group, which represents more than 5,500 yellow cab owners. That’s the reality for hundreds of New York City’s taxicab drivers who remain on the road, searching for scarce fares as ridership hits record lows.
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