NYC Cabs To Ditch Partitions To Provide A Friendlier Ride

Nora Barnicle • April 26, 2016

Sorry New Yorkers, starting next month we’ll no longer have to smush our faces up against the glass to make sure the driver gets our addresses right (I said West 110th Street).

Taxi & Limousine Commission officials recently announced that cabbies can do away with the barrier in an effort to make rides less formal, i.e. compete with Uber and Lyft.

Partitions were first installed in 1994 as a safety precaution but TLC board member Nora Marino emphasizes the importance of the passenger’s comfort, stating “when there’s no partition, a driver can have a conversation with the passenger.”

Don’t fear for your favorite driver just yet, though – those who take down their partitions will now be required to install a security camera instead.

So now that the divider wall will be eliminated, what will you drunkenly talk to your cabbies about? Politics? Their homeland? The latest Yankees trade? I’m sticking to this city’s best falafel shops, myself.

Featured cover image: The New York Times