Taxi's in New York City for 5 people

FYI, we just got back from our trip to New York. Had a great time, but just wanted other families traveling with 5 people, taxi drivers... even those driving vans, will not carry more than 4 passengers. We hired a SUV to pick us up at the airport, for the same price as the airport shuttles, and used the subway while we were there. It was really easy.

Taxi's in New York City for 5 people

The Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) strictly enforces this policy *for your safety!* No more than four passengers are permitted in a taxi. There must be a seat belt for each passenger and it is strongly advised that you wear your seat belt.

What I find particularly interesting is that when people get into their own cars, everybody immediately puts their seat belt on. When people get into taxi%26#39;s, particularly visitors, very few people wear their seat belts.

Taxi%26#39;s in NYC have alot of accidents. Mostly fender benders BUT passengers seated in the back can be thrown forward into the divider and can risk broken noses and assorted other injuries (even when the taxi is only going 15 mph)

Wear your seat belt in the taxi.

Taxi's in New York City for 5 people

I was just surprised because it was a van that had 5 seatbelts.

We have had 5 passengers in a ';van'; type taxi and according to the NYC taxi and Limousine Commission website:

From Driver Rule 2-43a (in PDF):

The maximum amount of passengers allowed in a yellow taxicab by law is four (4) in a four (4) passenger taxicab or five (5) passengers in a five (5) passenger taxicab, except that an additional passenger must be accepted if such passenger is under the age of seven (7) and is held on the lap of an adult passenger seated in the rear.

From that I would have thought if 5 seatbelts were available it would be a 5 passenger cab.

not every van carries 5. It must be the type that has a 3rd row of seats.

You can get a 5 passenger van at the airports, just go to the taxi line (queue) and when you get to the dispatcher tell him you want to wait for a 5 passenger van, he will make you wait for the next one. Just realize that the people behind you will have to get past you until one arrives.

But on the streets of manhattan you might have a problem getting one. Then I%26#39;d suggest the subway or 2 taxis. Some of the van type taxi cabs are limited to 4 people, and the new ';green'; cab vabs are mostly too small for 5 (or IMHO, even 1, there is no leg room).

I posted a couple of weeks ago that NYC cabs are getting smaller and as new ';greener'; cabs come into operation (Toyota Camrys, Ford Escapes, etc) the days of the big Ford Crown Vics are almost gone. Makes you yearn for the old days...how would you love to get into a Checker cab today!!!

All I know is that it was a large, van with a bench seat in the back, two seats in the middle and two seats in the front, and the driver said that he was only allowed to take 4 passengers.

Yeah, I%26#39;ve had that conversation too. Some of the 5-6 passenger vans have yellow stickers that claim only 4 passengers. I think they belong in smaller vehicles. I think the drivers just don%26#39;t want to bother.

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