Like you, us, and your grandma on the UES, the tabloids are in uproar – uproar! – over the new cab fare hike, brought to you by the TLC and the number 2. That's 2, as in two times the cost you're currently paying to idle in traffic. (And you thought the transportation bad news bears would end with the subway floods, huh?)

Riders now pay 20 cents a minute for "wait time" - a price that hasn't changed in 16 years - but yesterday, officials voted unanimously to raise the rate to 40 cents a minute at a meeting in TLC headquarters.

Adding insult to injury, the wait-time rate will now click in when a cab starts going less than 12 miles per hour. Currently, the rate takes effect at under 6 mph.

Traffic experts say the average speed on avenues in Manhattan is 10.2 mph and on crosstown streets its 7.5 mph - meaning that most rides in the Big Apple will now be charged at 40 cents a minute.

Even better news? The Post predicts more cab drivers will be taking up the rush hour shift because they can make more money as commuters idle in traffic. And certainly adding more drivers on the road during peak hours will ease those jams. Oh, and a new ruling also handed down yesterday – that cab drivers need only provide a driver's license and social security card, but not need to prove they're legal U.S. residents – is sure to add to the fun.