Schaller Consulting Archive

• Central cities in metro areas with 2.5 million or more population
• Las Vegas, New Orleans and Orlando, which are in smaller metro areas but have 1,000 or more cabs
• Counties in suburban Washington DC. Washington DC uses zones to calculate fares and cannot be compared directly with metered fares.

• The fare for an average trip ranges from under $11 in Cleveland to over $18 in Honolulu.
• Cities with relatively high rates of fare tend to be in metro areas with high living costs (highlighted in blue and green).
• Cab fares in New York and Chicago are about average, however, despite these being high-cost locales. The high demand for cab service in Manhattan and in Chicago's Loop and Near North Side generates relatively high fare revenues for drivers in these cities.
• Twelve of the 23 cities increased fares in 2005, partly in response to rising gasoline prices, and also as a result of many cities holding off on fare increases during the recession earlier in this decade.

		Fares for typical trips				Components of the fare
Area costs	...City	Avg. U.S. trip	Short trip	Long trip		Initial charge	Initial distance	Mileage charge	Mileage distance	Wait time per hour	Last change
**	Honolulu	$ 19.75	$   13.04	$   40.75		3.00	1/4	0.75	1/4	30.00	Nov-05
**	San Diego	16.17	10.59	33.67		2.25	1/10	0.25	1/10	20.00
*	Miami	16.10	10.73	32.90		2.50	1/6	0.40	1/6	24.00	Oct-05
**	San Francisco	15.90	10.85	31.65		2.85	1/5	0.45	1/5	27.00	Sep-03
**	Boston	15.45	10.08	32.25		1.75	1/8	0.30	1/8	24.00	Sep-02
**	Los Angeles	15.00	10.07	30.40		2.20	1/11	0.20	1/11	24.00	Nov-05
*	Seattle	14.80	10.29	28.80		2.50	1/10	0.20	1/10	30.00	Apr-05
	Las Vegas	14.75	10.27	28.75		3.20	1/8	0.25	1/8	22.00	Apr-05
	St. Louis	14.30	9.81	28.30		2.50	1/10	0.20	1/10	24.00	Jul-03
*	Philadelphia	14.17	9.47	28.87		2.30	1/7	0.30	1/7	20.00	Jul-05
	Atlanta	14.00	9.52	28.00		2.50	1/8	0.25	1/8	21.00	Oct-05
	Orlando	13.38	8.89	27.38		2.00	1/4	0.25	1/8	22.50
	Minneapolis	13.37	9.11	26.67		2.50	1/5	0.38	1/5	21.00	Sep-05
	Denver	13.23	8.74	27.23		1.60	1/8	0.25	1/8	22.50
**	New York	13.10	8.65	27.10		2.50	1/5	0.40	1/5	12.00	May-04
	Phoenix	12.87	8.83	27.10		2.50	1/6	0.30	1/6	20.00
	Houston	12.85	8.81	25.45		2.50	1/6	0.30	1/6	20.00	Aug-05
**	Chicago	12.70	8.66	25.30		2.25	1/9	0.20	1/9	20.00	May-05
**	DC suburbs	12.08	8.35	23.70
	Dallas	12.55	8.52	25.15		2.25	1/9	0.20	1/9	18.00	Nov-05
	New Orleans	11.80	8.21	23.00		2.50	1/8	0.20	1/8	18.00
	Detroit	11.65	8.07	22.85		2.50	1/8	0.20	1/8	16.00	Aug-01
	Baltimore	11.60	7.99	22.80		1.80	1/8	0.20	1/8	24.00	Jul-05
	Cleveland	10.78	7.21	21.98		1.80	1/6	0.40	1/4	15.00
	Washington	zones

Notes:
"Area costs" reflect cost of living in the metro area. Two stars indicates costs at least 25% above U.S. average; one star indicates living costs are 15-24% above U.S. average. Source: ACCRA produces the Cost of Living Index (www.coli.org).

Fares shown exclude additional charges for extra passengers, luggage, time of day surcharges, airport fees, temporary gasoline surcharges, etc.

Trip lengths:

• Average U.S. trip = 5 miles and 5 minutes of wait time.
• Short trip = 2.8 miles and 4.77 minutes of wait time (New York City average trip)
• Long trip = 12 miles and 5 minutes of wait time

Updated January 2006

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