Demand for taxi services peaked in five years

The number of executed taxi orders per hour has reached a maximum over the past five years, follows from the data provided to Vedomosti by the management company in the field of transport services GTK-Holding. The survey involved 3,000 taxi drivers aged 25 to 50 working in cities with a population of more than 1 million people.

As of March 1, one driver completes three orders per hour on average. The same indicator in 2022 was 2.5 trips, in 2021 – 2.6, the study notes. The lowest figure for the five years was recorded in the year the coronavirus pandemic began – in 2020, it was 1.8 trips per hour. The shift of 65% of taxi drivers, according to them, lasts eight hours, 13% work six to seven hours. 15% of respondents spend driving 8-12 hours a day.

According to the results of the survey, the increase in the number of orders is accompanied by an increase in the income of taxi drivers per shift. The average revenue is 5,600 rubles, which is 33% more than in 2022 (4,200 rubles). In 2021, a driver earned an average of 5,000 rubles per shift, in 2020 – 3,100. Taking into account all expenditure items (fuel, car rental, etc.), the taxi driver’s income is 35-40% of revenue, follows from the survey data .

Among economy class taxi drivers, 45% earn 60,000 rubles a month, 18% – from 60 to 70,000 rubles. The income of 20% of respondents is in the range from 50,000 to 60,000 rubles, 13% manage to earn more than 70,000 rubles, 4% – less than 50,000 rubles.

The increase in demand for trips can be explained by the fact that the popularity of “short trips” has grown – many people refuse personal transport in favor of carsharing and taxi services, Said Zaliev, the founder of GTK-Holding, believes. “A sharp decline in taxi services was recorded in the “pandemic” 2020, when during the period of self-isolation, the vast majority of regular users of taxi services were limited in movement,” he told Vedomosti.

According to Zaliev, Russians prefer to take a taxi, because it saves time and reduces the depreciation level of a personal car.

Service “Yandex.Taxi notes an increase in drivers’ income year-on-year, a spokesman for Vedomosti told Vedomosti.Yandex go. “According to our data, this is facilitated by a rapid increase in demand, which, in turn, reduces downtime,” he said.

The results of the study reflect the real situation in the field of transport services, said Anton Shaparin, Vice President of the National Automobile Union. “The number of orders per hour may vary depending on the time of day. There are fewer of them at night, but they will be more profitable for the driver,” he told Vedomosti.

According to him, the upward trend in the driver’s earnings is also confirmed, as the tariffs are now “very qualitatively balanced.” “The prices for the consumer are comfortable, they allow the driver to earn more than ever before, which has a positive effect on investments in this area and on the number of orders. The potential is great – current prices quite allow taxis to leave the gray zone,” Shaparin said.

At the same time, according to the expert, the balance of price and supply may soon change due to the new requirements to taxi ordering services prepared by the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation. According to him, the driver must complete the trip before he receives a new order. “Now it can be done [получить следующий заказ] a few minutes before the end of the current trip, which allows for a “seamless” transfer of the driver from one client to another, the driver does not stand idle and thereby saves money,” says Shaparin. He believes that the proposal of the Ministry of Transport could “worse the economics of the work” of the driver, and as a result, tariffs will increase, since the number of drivers ready to take the order affects the cost of the trip.

The Ministry of Transport of Russia intends to limit the maximum duration of a change of taxi drivers to 12 hours, after which drivers will not be able to receive new orders from aggregators. The draft resolution was published in the beginning of March.

The proposed changes also require drivers to take breaks. They will have to do this no later than five hours after they send the aggregator information about their readiness to complete the first order. Orders during the break will not be received by the driver. In addition, it is proposed to prohibit the transfer of new orders to the driver until the end of the current trip.