Routes will be added to drivers – Newspaper Kommersant No. 206 (7407) of 11/08/2022

The desire to expand the audience is forcing the largest taxi aggregators to offer users new services. So, “Yandex Go” launched a special tariff for trips between cities. A similar project will be implemented by Citymobil in 2023. Experts believe that in this way services can squeeze out local regional players who are engaged in the transfer of passengers between regions. At the same time, car service benefits may be needed to motivate taxi drivers to travel between cities, market players believe.

From November 8, Yandex Go users can order taxi rides from one city to another at the new Intercity tariff, a service representative told Kommersant. At the first stage, the directions Rostov-on-Don-Shakhty, Ufa-Sterlitamak, Anapa-Novorossiysk and Ussuriysk-Vladivostok are available for travel. The service representative explains that users actively travel these routes. According to him, Yandex Go plans to expand the geography of the Intercity tariff. The trip includes a ten-minute free wait en route for one or more stops along the way, the company says.

The introduction of an intercity tariff in 2023 is also being considered by Citymobil. Anatoly Malyshev, managing director of the company, told Kommersant that next year the service plans to expand regionally to 83 cities. At the same time, in his opinion, before launching a new tariff, it is necessary to develop additional bonuses and benefits for drivers, for example, for tire fitting, repair, washing, etc. This will motivate them to travel long distances, Mr. Malyshev believes.

Stanislav Schwagerus, head of the MEFT Competence Center, notes that long-distance taxi rides are not a new phenomenon, but aggregators have not previously introduced separate tariffs for them. The Maxim taxi ordering service says that the aggregator has always provided the opportunity to order trips on intercity routes. There are many such orders, some drivers specialize in trips between cities, the company added.

Car sharing services are also developing the possibility of intercity travel, but in a more limited format. Yandex Drive has an intercity tariff between Moscow and St. Petersburg. Users of the service can drive between other cities, but they need to complete the trip in the locality where the car was taken. In Delimobile, for intercity trips, there are regular routes Samara-Kazan and back, Moscow-St. Petersburg and back, as well as Tula-Moscow and back. On average, Delimobil users make about 200 intercity trips per month, the company notes.

Due to the development of long-distance transportation, taxi services will be able to attract new customers who could previously refuse such trips due to high prices for them, Vladimir Bespalov, an analyst in the technology, media and telecommunications sector, believes. Mr. Schwagerus notes that the intercity taxi fare may be in demand, for example, in the south of the country, where most airports are closed today, as well as for tourists from the cities of the Golden Ring who arrive at the airports of the Moscow air hub. Now such transfer services are provided by local players, the expert notes.

Irina Zaripova, Chairman of the Public Council for the Development of Taxi, believes that the development of long-distance travel by large taxi services will increase transparency in this market. For example, the popular service for finding car companions BlaBlaCar did not fully ensure the safety of trips, says Stanislav Schwagerus. According to the expert, despite the low cost and ease of organizing trips, BlaBlaCar periodically had problems with the safety of payments from users of the service.

Alina Savitskaya