I disagree that the cost of a ride in US is too high compared with most cities in Europe where it costs around 30% more than the larger cities in USA.

50 cents is 2.5% increase for a 20 dollar fare...

Abbot, just about allhacks make no money- and they have to hustle hard to get it in 12-hour shifts, plus pay the rental (if they don't own their car, which most don't), high insurance, gas, plus they need to return the car to the garage after having it washed/cleaned. Don't hate the player. They're tring to make a living. Hate the game instead. Like Biggie said, "Mo money, mo problems".

I'm not thrilled about extra taxes on cab rides, but I certainly don't feel bad for cabbies losing tips. I've never in my life seen a cab driver show a rider sympathy in the face of losing out on an extra dollar. You're completely at their mercy when they decide which policies to follow and which ones to ignore (like refusing to take you where you ask). If cabbies want better tips, how about doing something crazy like offering better customer service!

im kind of whatever with the fifty cents, but over the weekend i had a cab driver telling me because of that fifty cents he would have to restart the meter if he dropped someone off on the way.

Really? It's just 50 cents, people. If you are getting in a cab, you should have a good idea of how much money you can spend on such a luxury. And if paying an extra 50 cents is gonna cause a problem, you shouldn't be taking the cab to begin with,

What's really unfair is the employer tax for the MTA which is hitting freelancers right in the pocket. My wife works out of the house and doesn't commute at all or have any employees (and I walk to work, for what it matters). Yet we got a form from NY State telling us to start coughing up the MTA surcharge tax for the MTA. How is that right?

What the city should do is charge bicycle riders a $2 a day "convenience" surcharge (they are using city streets instead of riding the MTA after all) - and, charge pedestrians a walking surcharge of $1 a day, (plus the $2 if you ride a bicycle). If you have one leg, then obviously you would only have to pay $.50 and unicyclists would also have a discounted rate - $1.

The city could easily set up turnstiles that charge this fee when entering and exiting any of the 5 boroughs.

Now I know what you're all thinking right now, and I have a plan for that too. Residents choosing to balloon into town would be charged a $65 balloonist mooring penalty - on top of the pedestrian surcharge - to discourage this sort of attempt at fee evasion and avoid balloon congestion in the city.

These fees would not have to be paid for by city employees, celebrities, New York Yankees players or friends and relatives of city employees. (Mets players and fans will have to pay an additional $.50 surcharge, as would gays, Irish and people who have a middle name beginning with the letter "J")

It's time EVERYONE started paying to finance the MTA, not just the people who choose to use it.

But wait, I'm a gay bicyclist/pedestrian with a middle name of Joseph. I wouldn't mind if you were talking about Arabic speaking helicopter passengers working for a company with under 15 employees, but what about meeeeee?!?!?

(the preceding has been a parody of a typical gothamist comment)

I haven't taken a cab in a couple of years. They are a ripoff and I don't enjoy hearing crappy music or even worse the cabbie having a phone coversation in Arabic probably planning an attack on something. I walk or take a bus or a subway. I get around just fine.

i prefer to take a cab. no worry about anything else.

Yuan

Bisnis Internet

the article says no one is happy about it - but are you forgot to count the MTA - they're laughing their ass all the way to the bank on this "tax"

For $3, I shouldn't have to bring my own Febreze.

I took 3 taxis today in order to get my sick toddler to the doctor's office, then to the hospital, and then home again. In two of the taxis I tried to use a credit card and it wouldn't go through. Coincidence?

Less cab rides and more walking is good for us anyway.

this tax will be paying for the MTA improvements.

that is what the MTA wants you to believe.

How about charging a fare on the buses and subways that actually pay for what you are getting? If it's five dollars a shot so be it. Enough of this pushing off the MTA's stupid high payed jobs for doing something that a a well trained chimp or a third grade student dropout can do. If you can't afford taking public transport then walk or work out of your home.

It will come out of their tips, just like the 'prime time' surcharge does.

Bridge tolls would've been much better; there's a reason that this was the third choice for people with a brain.