Congestion pricing may be responsible for some good news for yellow cabs.

Since the start of the program through the end of January, taxi trips were up nearly 19% for rides to, from and within the congestion relief zone, compared to the same time period in 2024, according to new data from the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).

The data also shows, however, for-hire vehicles rides — like Ubers and Lyfts — were down 3.4% during that same period.

The TLC’s congestion zone starts at 58th Street on the west side and 59th Street on the east side, so the commission estimates the numbers may be slightly higher.

Citywide, yellow taxi trips were up just over 17%, while for-hire rides were up 3.8% when comparing all of January.

Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, is hopeful the numbers will continue to improve.

“I think that the fact that numbers are up [is] really promising. I don’t think there’s any conclusion, though we can reach just yet, as to why they’re up,” Desai said. “For example, in January 2023, the numbers were higher compared to January 2024. And so, January 2024 was a particularly low month for the entire industry.”

The taxi industry has struggled to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, when the city shut down and working remotely became the norm, even after it was over. Desai says revenue is another factor that needs to be looked at.

“You could be doing more trips, but if you’re not earning more per each trip, then the driver is working more for less. So we really need to look at the totality of it,” she said.

About 4,000 yellow taxis are still in storage from the pandemic. The TLC is looking into whether the uptick in trips is solely the result of increased speeds, enabling drivers to complete more trips, or also because more taxis are coming online.