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Taxis may be convenient, but the cost of getting across town is enough to give you sticker shock.

But what if there was a way to share both the cost and the cab? That's the idea behind a burgeoning business called CabCorner.

Jonathan McKinney founded the company along with Jesse Sommer. McKinney says the concept makes good economic sense, and not just for the passengers, for cab drivers, as well.

“You're going to get more riders, you're going to have more fares,” McKinney says. “Drivers are going to go further distances and, ultimately, the bottom line, the revenue for the cab industry is going to increase. It's more affordable for everyone.”

CabCorner.com has been in testing for six months and is currently developing an iPhone app. The service connects users heading to similar destinations and has them meet at a neutral, public location, like a coffee shop.

From there, they can hail a yellow cab or call a livery service from one of the contacts the company will provide.

Part of what makes the program appealing is it’s based on simple math. Put two people in the cab and your paying half the cost, three people and you're paying one-third, four and you're paying 25 percent. That means a trip to John F. Kennedy Airport, which would have cost you $45, is now only about $12.

The cab-sharing concept is one the Taxi and Limousine Commission has been focused on this year as well. The agency is developing several pilot programs, including multi-meters, livery stands and the development of 11 group ride locations that will be set up around the city by the end of 2010.

“It’s a flat fare and everybody groups together and there will be dispatchers at various locations, where people will know where they going, how much they are paying,” says TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus. “It will always be less for the passengers and always be more for the drivers.”

While some passengers may be reluctant to get in a cab with a total stranger, proponents say sharing will ultimately make the system run more efficiently – moving more people without putting more vehicles on the street.

“There about 12,000-14,000 yellow cabs in New York City, that's only 14,000 people who can be served at one time,” McKinney says. “But say you start to double it, well, now you have 28,000 people who can be served.”

“Group rides are good for the environment, good in these economic times, and it’s just a good sound transportation policy,” Daus adds.