By Heather Grossmann
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Hey stranger, care to share a ride?
New Yorkers will have to cozy up to strangers on Friday if they want a discounted fare as group taxi rides take effect in Manhattan.
From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays, taxis will pick-up and drop-off riders along three designated routes in the city, allowing up to four riders in each cab for a flat fare of $3 or $4, depending on their pickup location.
The reported pickup routes are 57th Street at Eighth Avenue near Columbus Circle, 72nd and Columbus Avenue and 72nd and Third Avenue. The taxis will take Park Avenue down to 42nd Street and riders can get out anywhere on the avenue.
Outgoing Taxi & Limousine Commissioner Matthew W. Daus has faith in the success of the program, despite the surly reputation of New Yorkers.
“New Yorkers are grown-ups,” Daus told the New York Times. “I think they’re going to work it out.”