Checked on October 23, 2026, against the TLC Driver Education Course and Exam Study Guide (revised May 2019), the TLC practice exams (January 2022), the PSI candidate bulletin and the current TLC rules (Chapter 80).
The TLC geography test is not a separate exam. It is the New York City Geography topic of the 80-question TLC Driver License Exam, one of 10 topics, and the one the TLC study guide gives the most pages. This guide explains what the geography questions ask, what PSI hands you in the exam room and a way to study the guide's lists as text.
Why geography is on the exam
Chapter 80 of the TLC rules says applicants must be familiar with the geography, streets and traffic regulations of New York City, as well as the TLC rules and the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law (35 RCNY 80-04(f)). A proposed rule from late 2025 would add navigation (best or shortest routes, navigational tools, signals and signs); as of October 23, 2026, no Commission vote on it is listed.
What the geography questions ask
The study guide (pages 32 and 33) says geography questions can ask you to:
- identify a river crossing, on a photo or a map;
- name the borough or location of a point of interest;
- give the direction from one place to another;
- pick the most direct route;
- pick the best crossing between two places.
In the guide's words, you should be able to "identify where and what a place is by direction, borough, neighborhood, street, and visually on a map or photo." The TLC's 2022 Practice Exam 1 covers the same ground: best route, compass directions, points of interest, general directions, street directions and picture identification. It also uses true/false items, but the real exam is 80 multiple-choice questions.
What PSI hands you, and what that means
The PSI bulletin says you get a Geographia NYC Five Borough Street Atlas, a Manhattan Address Key, a blank sheet of paper and a pencil or pen. They are collected after the exam. That makes part of the geography topic open-book: a question about a street you have never heard of can often be answered by looking it up. Other questions, such as those built on photos or on the facts in the guide's lists, are faster if you already know the answer. The bulletin does not say how many questions use the atlas.
Two habits help with the open-book part: know how a street atlas index works (look up the street, go to the page, find the grid square), and watch the clock. With 80 questions in 2 hours, you have about 1.5 minutes per question, so an atlas lookup should not eat five.
What the study guide's geography pages cover
The guide has borough sections for Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, a table of 30 river crossings, airport pages and 7 sample geography questions with an answer key. The facts in those lists are the part you can learn as text:
- Manhattan streets and avenues: which way the avenues and streets run, and where avenues change names.
- Highways: the West Side Highway and FDR Drive exits, and which highway runs between two points.
- River crossings: for each of the 30 bridges and tunnels, what it crosses, its two ends and whether it has a toll.
- Landmarks and parks: the borough each one is in, and the addresses the guide lists.
- Directions: the compass direction between two named places.
A text method for the guide's lists
- Make your own tables. Copy each list from the guide into a table with one fact per column: crossing, what it crosses, borough at each end, toll or free. Writing it out once teaches more than reading it three times.
- Quiz yourself both ways. Cover one column and recall it from the others: "Which crossings go from Manhattan to New Jersey?" and "What does the Williamsburg Bridge cross?"
- Group by borough. For landmarks and parks, sort the guide's list into five borough groups, then add each address.
- Trace directions in words. For two places in the guide, say which way you travel (north, south, east or west) and on which avenue or highway.
- Check every fact against the guide's own lists, not its sample answers. The errors below come from the sample key and the crossings table.
- Look at a real map once you know the lists. Map and photo questions need you to recognize places by sight, which text alone cannot teach.
Errors and old facts in the guide's geography pages
- Empire State Building: the guide's lists place it at Fifth Avenue at 34th Street (350 Fifth Avenue), but sample question 3 keys it as "34th Street and Broadway." Go with the address list.
- Williamsburg Bridge: the crossings table says it crosses the Hudson River. It crosses the East River, like the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges in the same table.
- The Hugh Carey tunnel name: the guide spells the name two ways (Hugh M. Carey and Hugh L. Carey), and sample question 1 calls the same tunnel "Brooklyn-Battery." Know both names.
- Spelling slips: "Frederick Douglas" for Frederick Douglass, "Spuyten Buyvil" for Spuyten Duyvil and "34rd St." for 34th Street
- Airport terminals: the LaGuardia and JFK terminal lists are from 2019, and no current TLC source we checked confirms them. Do not spend time memorizing which airline uses which terminal.
What our practice covers, and what it does not
Our NYC Geography practice section uses text questions written only from the facts in the study guide's lists: streets and avenues, highways, crossings, landmarks and directions. It does not practice atlas lookups, the Manhattan Address Key, or map and photo identification, because we cannot give you the PSI atlas or the exam's images, and we do not draw NYC maps. Treat our geography questions as practice for the closed-book part, and spend some study time with a real street map for the rest.
For the other nine topics and the fares that changed since 2019, see the NYC TLC exam study guide. For booking and test day, see the TLC exam appointment guide.
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Frequently asked questions
Is the TLC geography test a separate exam?
No. Geography is one of the 10 topics of the 80-question TLC Driver License Exam. You take it all in one sitting.
How many geography questions are on the TLC exam?
Not published. The TLC does not give a count or weight for any topic. The study guide gives geography 18 of its 33 numbered pages.
Is the TLC geography test open book?
Partly. PSI hands you a Geographia NYC Five Borough Street Atlas and a Manhattan Address Key in the exam room, so some questions can be looked up. Photo and map questions and timed questions are faster if you know the facts already.
Do I need to know airport terminals?
The guide's terminal lists are from 2019, and no current TLC source we checked confirms them, so we do not test them.
What does the Williamsburg Bridge cross?
The East River. The study guide's crossings table says the Hudson River, which is an error.
Does your practice include map questions?
No. Our geography questions are text only, from the facts in the study guide's lists. Atlas lookups and map or photo questions are not practiced.
Official sources
- TLC: Driver Education Course and Exam Study Guide, revised May 2019 (PDF)
- TLC: practice exams, English, January 2022 (PDF)
- PSI for TLC: TLC Driver License Exam candidate information bulletin (PDF)
- TLC rules, 35 RCNY Chapter 80, Medallion Taxicab, SHL and For-Hire Drivers (PDF)
- TLC: Notice of Public Hearing on Proposed Rules, Driver License and Education Requirements (hearing December 17, 2025) (PDF)
- TLC: Proposed Rules and Pilot Programs
PrepRaven is an independent exam-prep site. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), PSI Services LLC or any City or State agency. This guide describes the rules as published; it is not legal advice. Facts are as of October 2026; always confirm fees, fares and exam rules on the TLC pages linked above.
Last updated October 2026