Tallinn's taxi services now predominantly app-based
Taxi services in Tallinn are now offered predominantly through information technology platforms, with the market share of traditional taxi services around just 5 percent.
There are currently 3,093 companies and sole proprietors licensed to provide taxi services in the capital. However, the number of driver service cards issued is more than four times higher.
"More than 13,000 driver service cards have been issued in the Tallinn area over the past 11 years. It's impossible to say how many of those cardholders are currently driving, since driver service cards do not expire. In reality, someone may have tried it for a month or two, or even a year, and then stopped providing the service," said Kristjan Haljasoks, chief specialist for taxi licenses at the Tallinn Transport Department.
This year, Tallinn has issued 264 driver service cards. During the same period last year, 362 had been issued, with the total for the entire year reaching 708.
"Last year and the year before, we also saw more people arriving from abroad. They want to work and naturally apply for these driver service cards. Unfortunately, our Public Transport Act does not require drivers to have proficiency in the Estonian language," Haljasoks said.
Among platform-only taxi service providers, Bolt holds the largest market share in Tallinn at around 70 percent, Haljasoks said. Among traditional taxi operators, Forus Takso has the largest share, though it also operates through a mobile app.
"For example, the airport is still a place where customers are more likely to take a traditional taxi and the same goes for the port. Of course, people who know the system and are used to it order taxis through an app, but when foreign tourists arrive, they still tend to take whichever taxi catches their eye," Haljasoks said.
Tiit Isop, a member of the management board of Forus Takso, which has about 400 drivers, acknowledged that the company is far more prominent in the traditional taxi market than in the app-based market.
"It's difficult to estimate our exact market share without our competitors' figures, but in the traditional market — the airport, the port, hotels and telephone bookings — we may be ahead of Bolt," Isop said.
In Isop's view, Tallinn's taxi market is unlikely to see major changes in the near future unless a company makes an aggressive move by significantly undercutting prices.
"If prices remain at an economically reasonable level, I don't think we'll see another major increase in the absolute number of taxi bookings. Instead, the focus will shift toward improving quality. At least that's my hope," Isop said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
