Trends in ride-hailing and taxi businesses in 2024
Julia Alexeenko
Explore industry trends like the rise of super apps, the shift to emission-neutral vehicles, and the growing complexity of mobility regulations. Learn how to navigate these changes and position your taxi business for success in this evolving market.
It’s 2024, and the size of the global taxi market has reached 278.65 billion. According to Mordor Intelligence, by 2029, the market size is estimated to double and achieve the point of 432.56 billion dollars.
If you’re interested in starting a taxi business and getting a slice of this pie, this article is for you. We’ll go through the burning questions:
- How do you start a taxi business with just one car?
- How much do you need to invest to start a taxi business?
- How do you find drivers and customers at the start of your business?
Read on and get your answers to these and many other questions!
Trends in the taxi and mobility industry
Ever since Uber entered the market, the mobility industry has been changing rapidly, and it keeps evolving by introducing new features and possibilities and making taking a ride as convenient as possible for the customer.
In the growing economies, services such as Didi Chuxing have introduced Super Apps: applications suitable for ordering a taxi, but also allowing a customer to manage more daily tasks in just one app.
As for the regions, Asia Pacific is the region of the fastest growth in mobility services. Major players include Didi Chuxing in China, Grab in Southeast Asia, and Ola in India. However, we also see an ongoing trend for smaller players joining the market.
For the African continent, the ride-hailing market demonstrates promising growth as well. While the absolute numbers are less impressive than for the Asia Pacific, the experts report enriching business opportunities in the region due to tourism growth and the development of local business hubs. For instance, the rise of motorcycle taxis in Nigeria has disrupted traditional taxi services and led to increased competition in the ride-hailing market. Other countries, from Morocco to Kenya, see the gradual rise of strong local ride-hailing players as well.
When starting a taxi business, understanding the taxi and mobility industry trends is crucial for picking the best niche for your business. So here are the most prominent developments in the industry for the coming couple of years.
Ride-hailing apps are turning into super apps.
Handy, automated order management, GPS-tracking, and multiple payment methods are the bare minimum for a taxi service. That’s how ride-hailing apps became the state of the art. However, we see a steady increase in the popularity of applications offering multiple service types and allowing customers to manage more than just mobility. Besides, employing innovative technologies helps newly established taxi companies gain funding and governmental support.
Emission-neutral vehicle use is growing
The concern with global ecology and attractive subsidies for electric vehicles have made EVs grow steadily in popularity as taxi vehicles. We see these trends expanding: while previously EVs were mostly used for premium taxi service types, now they are close to dominating regular taxi services as well. Some companies experiment with self-driving vehicles, others with subscription-based fully-electric fleets—depending on the budget, many things are possible.
Alternative modes of transportation to avoid further congestion are becoming more popular.
Bikes, motorbikes, scooters, you name it. Especially in congested cities, mobility companies are diversifying the services offered. In locations with more tourism, alternative mobility is gaining traction, too. If you’re wondering how to start a bike taxi business, this might be just the trend to hop on.
Mobility market regulation gains complexity.
In the wake of Uber controversies in terms of governmental lobbying, workers’ rights, and societal impact, many governments have taken legislative steps to regulate technology-driven mobility businesses. In rapidly developing regions such as Latin America or the Middle East, the regulations are expected to grow more rigid in the coming years, making now the perfect time to launch a taxi company while there’s still some room in the market. On the other hand, many local governments are striving to daunt multinational players such as Uber or Didi, creating space for local taxi enterprises to take their share of the market.
Emphasis on safety stays essential
Various safety concerns made safety features such as the SOS button, Follow my ride, and in-app chats essential. Customers are also more worried about maintaining their privacy and are less willing to share their phone numbers with drivers.
