Taxi's are seen on a street in New York in this file photo. The price of a license to operate a New York taxi cab hit a record $600,000 in May, according to a lending company which financed the purchase. REUTERS/Jeff Christensen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The price of a license to operate a New York taxi cab hit a record $600,000 in May, according to a lending company which financed the purchase.

Medallion Financial Corporation said it had financed the purchase of two medallions -- the license to operate a yellow cab in New York -- for a total of $1.2 million by a large corporate fleet operator.

“Prices of corporate medallions have increased from $195,000 in 2001 to the record $600,000 this week,” Andrew Murstein, president of the lending company, said in a statement on Tuesday. It said the previous record was about $550,000.

New York has around 13,000 yellow cabs. A typical $10 fare would cover a trip from the Empire State Building in Midtown Manhattan to the Financial District at the south of the island, assuming no time stuck in traffic and without a tip.