Need a Cab? New Analysis Shows Where to Find One

It is a question that taxi-seekers in New York often ponder: Is there some kind of secret formula for where to find a cab in this town? Turns out, there is.

The most popular corners to catch a yellow cab in Manhattan can now be pinpointed, at any hour of any day of the week, thanks to a record of 90 million actual taxi trips that have been silently tracked by the city.

On a Saturday at 11 p.m., it is easier to hail a cab on the nightclub-and-bar-filled Lower East Side than at Grand Central Terminal. Columbus Circle gets more passenger pickups than the Port Authority bus station. And make sure you are in the right neighborhood: taxi rides are 25 times as likely to start in the West Village as in Washington Heights.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission hopes the information, collected by GPS, can be used to create helpful tie-ins for customers, like a new smartphone program that lets mobile users locate the ideal nearby corner to hail a cab.