Listen all you New Yorkers....

March 7, 2007 9:40 AM

I'm putting together a budget for a client and need to know how much cab fare would be from Penn Station to Lincoln Center. Any Web sites out there that could calculate this for me? Or can someone in NY give me an estimate?
posted by Nathanial Hörnblowér to travel & transportation (12 comments total)

Day of the week and time of day with be factors (traffic, increased night-time fares, etc.) but I'd guess it'd be somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 - $15, maybe $20 with tip.
posted by saladin at 9:46 AM on March 7, 2007

It will be a Thurs. afternoon, probably around 1:00. Returning to Penn Station around the same time on Friday.
posted by Nathanial Hörnblowér at 9:48 AM on March 7, 2007

Like saladin said, it depends.
posted by anaelith at 9:50 AM on March 7, 2007

That cab ride would cost approximately $8.03. It is about 2.14 miles.

Throw in a few more bucks for tip...
posted by vacapinta at 9:50 AM on March 7, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

The rate for getting in the cab is $2.50. Add $0.40 for every .2 mile at 6 mph or more. Add $0.40 for every minute stopped or traveling less than 12 mph (I know, there's overlap).

There's a $0.50 surcharge at night and a weekday rush hour surcharge of $1.00 between 4:00 and 8:00, but your client won't have to worry about that.

It's two miles from Penn Station to Lincoln Center, and traffic is usually light at that time of day, so I would expect the cab to keep moving.

$2.50(flat rate) + $4.00(distance) + ~$1.20(stoppage) = somewhere between $6.50 and $8.00. It might be a buck or so more if the cabbie goes around the block to get there.
posted by breezeway at 9:58 AM on March 7, 2007

Oh yeah, and a two buck tip.
posted by breezeway at 9:59 AM on March 7, 2007

Wow - breezeway has it nailed. Personally, I would add a buck or two, because often it will take longer than expected to get there or the cab will take an alternate route. You shouldn't have to pay for that. All in all it's about 11 dollars - how freaking ridiculous.
posted by xammerboy at 10:21 AM on March 7, 2007

Its worth noting that Penn Station and Lincoln Center are directly connected by the 1 train. A train trip is only 5-10 minutes longer than a cab ride and is $2.
posted by Maastrictian at 10:23 AM on March 7, 2007

I used to do that trip a lot. It varied between $6.50 ish and $11.50 ish, not including tip.
posted by crabintheocean at 10:41 AM on March 7, 2007

I was guessing between $5 and $10; nice to see my NYC instincts are still in working order.
posted by languagehat at 10:46 AM on March 7, 2007

True, the subway is cheaper and pretty convenient, but it's a lot of stairs if you're carrying luggage and can be confusing to out-of-towners.

If they cab it, your clients will want to go to the taxi stand on the west (8th Ave/33 St) side of the station, since 8th Ave is one-way uptown. Seventh Ave is downtown so they'd lose a buck or so when the cab looped around to head uptown.
posted by breezeway at 10:47 AM on March 7, 2007

Being that detailed seems a strange way to make a budget. I would suggest you be slightly generous with your budget estimates and then tight with the actual expenditures. That way you might actually come under budget, give some room for unexpected costs and also follow the classic "underpromise and overdeliver" approach.
posted by FastGorilla at 8:37 PM on March 7, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]