Metro

It’s a yellow $treak

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Yellow-cab passengers forked over more cash while trip times decreased in 2010 as compared with 2009, according to the latest data from the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

The average fare for a cab ride in 2009 was $10.73, which jumped to $11.71 in 2010 — a 9.1 percent increase, according to the analysis, which was culled from GPS and credit-card data.

While total trip times were shorter in 2010 by about a minute — the average trip was 11.66 minutes in 2009 compared with 10.74 minutes in 2010 — the distance of the rides increased slightly.

The average trip distance in 2009 was 2.71 miles, and that only increased to 2.77 miles in 2010.

The numbers could be the result of more people paying to go through the nine MTA bridges and tunnels that charge tolls.

The agency hiked bridge and tunnel tolls earlier this year.

Cabdrivers themselves hardly seemed to benefit, however, from the spike in fares, based on credit-card tips that barely increased.

In 2009, passengers tipped their cabby an average of 18.4 percent, and in 2010 that only increased to 18.6 percent, the data shows.

“People are benefiting from the credit-card option,” TLC Commissioner David Yassky said, adding that “drivers are benefiting from consistently high tips on credit-card rides.”

The most stark increase revealed by the data is the number of trips taken from Manhattan to JFK Airport every day.

In 2009, there was an average of 6,189 daily trips to the airport. In 2010, there were 7,515 per day — a 21 percent increase.

Also, people are using credit cards much more frequently to pay their fare — from 25.6 percent per day in 2009 to 36 percent per day in 2010.

The data only reflect the actual amount of the trip — so the 50-cent mass-transit surcharge on every cab ride that went into effect in late 2009 didn’t come into play, sources said.

The surcharge went toward bailing out the cash-strapped agency in 2009. The money was supposed to help stave off massive service cuts, which became a reality in 2010 anyway.

Additional reporting by Zoey Russo

tom.namako@nypost.com