The rise in taxi prices in Moscow is just beginning

The aggregators announced this officially

Messages about the upcoming rise in price of something – something else! – no longer evoke any emotions among Muscovites. Except sometimes curiosity. For example, yesterday we were promised that the average bill for a taxi ride would increase by 2–3%. Representatives of the largest aggregator reported this to the media with a hint of apology: they say, this will make it possible to attract more drivers, compensate for the rise in prices for the maintenance and servicing of cars, but don’t worry, dear passengers, we are doing everything to ensure that taxis remain accessible to the widest possible audience!

It seems that 2–3% is quite a bit. Most passengers probably wouldn’t have noticed if it weren’t for one thing: in fact, the average check has already increased – and not by 2-3, but by 20-30%. For some reason, no one officially reports this – you have to trust your eyes and wallet.

Just look at the history of your own orders in the application: from our editorial office, located on 1905 Street, I periodically order a taxi for the same route – to my home, on Azovskaya Street. It’s not far – only 18 km and about 30 minutes.

For the purity of observations, we will take the same time of day – traffic-free weekday evenings, between 21.00 and 22.00. So, just recently, in mid-September, they took me home in the evening for 1,325 rubles (not bad, but sometimes fatigue is stronger than greed). A month earlier, at the beginning of August, for 1252 rubles. In April, the same trip cost 959 rubles, and in early February – 785 rubles. The price dynamics are too obvious, and the numbers speak for themselves.

Now, in October 2023, we are talking about increasing tariffs (officially!): the cost of supplying a car and the cost of a kilometer will increase. And it seems like this is the first increase in price in two years, so it’s a sin to complain… Formally. Well, in practice, as we know, everything is decided by the ratio of supply and demand. Taxi drivers in aggregators have never hidden: pricing is dynamic. This is not Europe and not a little yellow taxi “with checkers”, where everything is clear: getting into the car costs, say, 3–5 euros, and then a few euro cents per minute. And this very dynamic pricing in our taxi is becoming more and more dynamic every month… There is no need to remind the reasons: gasoline is becoming more expensive, compulsory motor insurance is becoming more expensive, car rental itself is becoming more expensive, and taxi drivers do not work for a “thank you”, not out of boredom and not for the sake of love to the art of driving.

Today, a taxi may not yet be a luxury, but for more and more people it is becoming a reason to think once again: is it really necessary? Or is it still possible to get by by bus? Or take the wheel yourself? Or even walking on foot is useful… Or should you not give up a convenient and familiar thing and save on something else? For example, should I take lunch with me from home? Or give up on a manicure?

Although the taxi drivers themselves are in no hurry to get nervous and assess the behavior of their clients optimistically: “They will pay!” And this optimism is partly justified. Of course, a taxi is not an essential service. There’s not even anything to argue about here. However, in addition to the “essential necessities,” there is also the notorious comfort zone and established habits. Although the era of cheap taxis did not last long in our city – less than ten years – many people managed to get used to it. And it’s stupid to blame them for this. Someone decided that it was really easier for him to allocate 500 rubles a day than to freeze at the bus stop waiting for the bus. For some, a taxi gave them the opportunity to take a heavy laptop with them every day. Someone was spared the need to return late in the evening through dark, uncomfortable courtyards, where it is not entirely safe for strong men to walk, and there is nothing to say about girls. And there is also the need to take a child to the clinic or to classes, take an old grandmother to visit her grandchildren, drive with a sick cat to a veterinary clinic – and not only.

And to top it all off, there are a bunch of situations and routes for which a taxi is really (objectively!) much more convenient than the alternatives. For example, one of the eternal niches of taxis is the so-called pendulum migration, movement between neighboring areas. Especially where the straight line distance does not exceed 5 km, but using public transport threatens to result in two transfers and a long walk. In such cases, people usually are not greedy – and taxi drivers take advantage of this. A clear example: the other day I urgently needed to get from the same street of 1905 to the Petrovsky Travel Palace near the Dynamo metro station. Here it is, that same pendulum migration, you can’t imagine anything more pendulum-like – just 3 km along the Third Transport Ring, about ten minutes on the road (and that’s if you stand at every traffic light!). The taxi aggregator asked for 792 rubles for this kindness. It was raining. So what? Indeed, I paid…

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 29136 dated October 16, 2023

Newspaper headline:
Taxi with “demonic” prices