How NYC TLC metered ride pricing works
Ride pricing in New York City does not get set app by app the way it does in a lot of cities. Metered fares are regulated by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, the TLC for short. This guide walks through how the regulated meter is put together, what an upfront fare actually is, why the meter carries no surge, and how Bobby plans to add a flat booking fee on top.
Last updated July 19, 2026 · Pre-launch informational guide
What the TLC regulates
The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission is the city agency that licenses and regulates for-hire transportation across New York City, from yellow taxis to green cabs to app-based for-hire vehicles. Among the things the TLC sets is the metered fare structure that governs regulated trips.
Because the meter is regulated, how a fare gets built does not shift depending on which app called the ride. Those rules come from the city, not from any one company.
How the metered fare is built
A regulated metered fare is put together from a handful of defined components rather than one number pulled out of thin air. Broadly, they include:
- A base amount charged when the trip begins.
- A distance component that builds up as the trip covers ground.
- A time component that kicks in when the vehicle is stopped or crawling through traffic.
- Defined surcharges and taxes that the city and state apply to trips, which can shift by time of day and location.
The exact rate for each component is published and kept current by the TLC. Since the structure is set by regulation, two identical trips are meant to price the same way under the same conditions.
What an upfront fare means
An upfront fare is the total you see before confirming a ride, worked out from the regulated components and the expected route. Rather than watch a meter tick up and guess where it lands, you get the price first.
Bobby plans to show upfront fares built from the TLC metered rates, so a rider sees the fare before confirming instead of after the trip wraps up.
Why there is no surge on the meter
Surge pricing multiplies a fare when demand spikes. A regulated metered fare simply does not behave that way: the components are fixed by the TLC, so a given trip does not get multiplied just because a lot of people want a ride in the same moment.
Bobby plans to price rides straight off the regulated TLC meter, which keeps riders clear of demand-based multipliers on the fare itself.
How the flat $1 fits on top
The metered fare covers the ride. On top of that, an app can charge its own booking fee. Bobby plans to add a flat $1 booking fee to the regulated fare rather than skim a percentage of the driver earnings. The driver keeps the fare; that flat $1 is the platform fee the customer pays.
Bobby is pre-launch and still working through the required regulatory registrations and licensing, including the applicable TLC approvals. Rides cannot be booked yet. The pricing laid out here is how Bobby intends to operate once it launches.