All topics / Basic Services for All New Yorkers / Taxi and Limousine Commission
Average wait time at Long Island City facility (hours:minutes)
Ensure the quality and safety of for-hire vehicle transportation services through effective regulation and administration of rules, standards, and licensing requirements. — Provide excellent customer service to licensees.
This wait time tracks visit and call volume at TLC's Long Island City licensing office relative to staffing. It rose in Fiscal 2023 as visits jumped 31 percent, then fell sharply in Fiscal 2024 as TLC expanded online services that let more customers avoid an in-person visit. TLC's own preliminary Fiscal 2026 report says wait times rose again because in-person demand increased without additional staffing.
Researched July 16, 2026 — TLC, Fiscal 2023 Mayor's Management Report, TLC, Fiscal 2024 Mayor's Management Report, TLC, Fiscal 2026 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report
* Year to date — this fiscal year isn't complete, so it's not compared against prior years in the target/trend status above.
View as table
| Fiscal year | Actual | Target |
|---|---|---|
| FY22 | 0 hr 33 min | 0 hr 25 min |
| FY23 | 0 hr 37 min | 0 hr 25 min |
| FY24 | 0 hr 22 min | 0 hr 25 min |
| FY25 | 0 hr 23 min | 0 hr 25 min |
| FY26 (YTD) | 0 hr 28 min | 0 hr 25 min |
Why this is tracked
Mayor John Lindsay created the Taxi and Limousine Commission in 1971 through Local Law 12, taking taxi and for-hire vehicle regulation away from the NYPD's Hack Bureau, which had overseen the industry since 1925 but struggled with rising complaints about unsafe vehicles and driver misconduct as the industry grew. Today TLC licenses and inspects drivers and vehicles, requiring fingerprinting, drug testing, driver education, and ongoing vehicle inspections, and it enforces those standards through a dedicated Uniformed Services Bureau. The agency has also had its own controversies, including a role in years of medallion price inflation that a state investigation later scrutinized.
Wikipedia - New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, TLC - Licensing and Standards
Source: TLC Licensing Division — via NYC Open Data: Mayor's Management Report, Agency Performance Indicators
Coverage shown: FY22–FY26, reported monthly.
Definition: Average number of hours/minutes a licensee/applicant waited at the Long Island City facility from time of arrival to the start of service by a TLC customer representative.