Car costs $30k-$60k lifetime (repairs and such). Not many taxi services run luxury vehicles. Paying a single person full-time probably runs $30k-$40k/year, and you're probably running two to keep the duty cycle up. Gas is probably another $10k/year. Car lasts, what, five or ten years? Fifteen if you're careful and buy for reliability? Yes, people and fuel are the most expensive components.
> Car lasts, what, five or ten years? Fifteen if you're careful and buy for reliability?
My Blacklane airport ride who operated a small black car business in LA area told me his vehicles generate 70-90,000 miles a year and are sold off after 12-18 months of service (estimates of being driven 300 days a year, 6 hours a day on average @ 60 mph seem reasonable and end up being over 100,000 miles a year).
Expenses for transportation-for-hire vehicles cannot be compared with a generic family sedan that spends most of its time in the garage.
Based on the NYC taxis I see roaming the streets, I'd guess that they last longer than six years. Plenty of cars look 10+ years or older. I'd guess that that the average age of a NYC taxi is around six years.
