How Is Taxi And Ride Sharing Business Grappling With COVID-19 In Europe?

The global ride-sharing market projected to grow USD 117.33 billion by 2021, but the forecast for 2021 is down by 2.1% due to the corona outbreak.

Europe is one of the countries where the ride-sharing industry negatively impacted due to the novel pandemic that has affected thousands of people. However, in the new normal, after looking at the heights of the lockdown that has collapsed the business to 80%, the situation is expected to recover steadily. The analytics speaks the woes of taxi rental app solutions are deepening.

In Europe, the government is strictly advising the people to self-quarantine themselves at least for ten days when they return from or traveling to the country that falls in the “Red” list after the startling comeback of the corona.

Plus, traveling abroad is advised to avoid, if it’s not necessary. When it comes to public transport commute, wearing the face mask and sanitization as precautionary measures are made compulsory.

Along with the government, the ride-hailing ventures have also made impressive efforts to boost the businesses while maintaining the profits. Take a look at what the taxi businesses are doing to cope up with the fallout of corona:

A popular ride-sharing system

Bolt-in Eastern Europe- that’s rebranded from Taxify has raised 100 million euros and doesn’t layoff its staff of 1400 employees globally to boost the market share in the market that’s severely impacted by corona. As several European countries started lifting the lockdowns, the company’s CEO expects to reach profitability in two-thirds of the market.

Previously, the company has invested in the scooter-sharing segment, and now, they did electric scooter services expansion in 45 more European cities is under the plan. The scooter-sharing service is proven as a great complement to taxi services in the pandemic time where people less prefer ride-hailing.

FreeNow, the ride-hailing venture in Europe playing a catch up with Uber forecasted to double its revenue next year. The CEO of the company said they have partnered with a German carmaker to increase the share in the mobility market amidst intensifying pressure.

Moreover, to stay afloat, many taxi app solutions in Germany begin broadening the services in an attempt to offset the financial damage. For instance, in Cologne, taxi companies are helping the people who want to go out from shopping, and if not, then the driver picks up the shopping list and money from the customer, and shop and deliver the products to them at their doorstep. 

In Munich, taxi services are offered to medical workers to minimize infection risk. In Berlin, after having a deal with the government, the taxi drivers are allowed to provide grocery, pharmacy, and food deliveries at comparatively lesser costs.

Summing it up

The corona crisis devastates the demand for taxi-hailing and ride-sharing services. The trend towards work from home, lockdown of factories, and public transportation abandon to maintain social distancing contributes a ton in negatively impacting the rides and revenue of the industry.

The pandemic has blown to cabbies all over the world, but the demand for taxi and ride-sharing business has picked up during the spring season followed by uneven opening. However, reaching the number of rides to pre-pandemic levels takes time because restoring the situation to pre-pandemic times, and making people feel confident about public transportation is not that easy.

The efforts made by taxi ride-sharing apps to make the trips safe and secure, and broaden the service categories with different strategic plans are the best steps in the same move. Do you know anything else? If so, we would love to hear from you in the comments below.