The impact of the fare and industry size on cab availability is estimated in a
second equation in which the dependent variable is total taxi industry mileage
operated without passengers. These “dead miles” are spent cruising for
passengers. This variable measures how readily would-be taxi passengers can
hail a cab on the streets of Manhattan. As cruising miles increase, a person
standing at a given street corner is more likely to encounter an available cab.
Similarly, a decrease in cruising miles decreases the availability of service.