Taxi Share Plan

for upper west side commuters who do not mind sharing a taxicab, the city is about to launch a pilot program that aims to make the hailing process faster-and lower the price of a ride.

the taxi and limousine commission is proposing six manhattan locations for a group yellow taxi stand where riders can hop on and ride to midtown, or anywhere in between.

on the west side, the two group-ride spots are planned for west 72nd street and columbus avenue and west 57th street and eighth avenue.

for $4, a rider could share a cab from the west 72nd street stand and take it anywhere along the route to park avenue and east 42nd street. for those who take a taxi at the west 57th street location to park avenue, the cost is $3 per person.

"this is sort of making it more organized and more structured and giving [riders] a start point and an end point and a travel corridor that is very predictable," said allan fromberg, deputy commissioner of public affairs at the taxi and limousine commission.

fromberg said the commission plans to implement the first three group taxi stands-the two on the west side and one on east 72nd street and third avenue-by the end of january. the pilot program would operate for at least a year.

the manhattan locations were chosen for their heavy taxi usage.

"we wanted to make one taxicab do the work of potentially four taxi cabs and improve the capacity of the industry without adding cars," fromberg said.

until then, the commission will be gauging community interest. officials are planning to present the pilot program to community board 7's transportation committee jan. 12.