When I first arrived to Dublin, I was told that there were more taxis in Dublin than yellow cabs in New York city. Of course, I didn’t believe that, so I asked for clarification: “per capita, or in absolute terms?” “In absolute terms” was the response. I didn’t really believe that, but let the matter rest.

Until yesterday, that is. In conversation, the taxi subject came somehow and I finally decided to investigate the matter. I decided to count only licences for vehicles of the type commonly called “taxi” or “yellow cab”; this excludes hackneys, limos and so on.

• In County Dublin, as of 30 June 2009, there were 11,800 taxi licences (source: Taxi Regulator).
• County Dublin’s population was 1,187,176 in 2006 (source: Central Statistics Office Ireland).
• In New York City there are 13,137 yellow medallion taxicabs as of today (source: New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission).
• New York City’s population was 8,363,710 in 2008 (source: New York City Department of City Planning).

So, for the conclusions: Co. Dublin has roughly 12,000 taxis for roughly 1,200,000 people. That’s 100 persons to a taxi. New York City, however, has roughly 13,000 taxis for roughly 8,400,000 people. That’s 646 persons to a taxi. Therefore, Dublin has fewer taxis than New York City in absolute terms, but way more per capita. Had my friend said “per capita”, he would have been right.