We have had an unprecedented turbulent first half year. A sharp decline in the taxi sector in early March is now followed by a very weak recovery. Last week, the curtain fell again for a taxi company. This time Coöperatie Dutchcabs UA in Amsterdam was declared bankrupt by the court in Central Netherlands. Many taxi companies will follow. The sector is licking its wounds and reorganizing where possible to significantly reduce costs on workplaces and office spaces.

The consequences may be incalculable in the third quarter. According to Statistics Netherlands, a third of the catering companies assume that they will not reach the end of 2020. The culture, sports and recreation sector is also in danger of being cut, because twenty percent fear there will have to stop within five months. All sectors where the taxi companies derive income from the entry-level market.

“I easily had three to four trips per service to Schiphol before March. You must have it because city trips usually do not even yield an average of EUR 20. At the moment I don't even get a ride to Schiphol every day. The market does not want to pick up and people are still leaving the taxi en masse now that the relaxation is a fact, "said a taxi driver in The Hague.

a different approach is now necessary

In recent months, Eindhoven-based Censys BV has developed a plan to help taxi companies from the start-up market, better known as the street taxi market. Key elements are of course smart automation and working from home. By making fully automatic software available at minimum rates, it is possible to have a taxi center operational with a minimum of costs. 

Handy apps, cloud solutions, VOIP telephony and smart monitoring of the processes enable entrepreneurs to actively participate in the car and minimize the hours at the fixed workplace in the office. The high costs of using Google Maps or Here Technology, which can amount to thousands of euros per month, are now also minimized by the introduction of Pitane Mobility OSM. The software development of Pitane BV, also located in Eindhoven, during the corona lock-down, has led to the launch of a brand new own routing and geocoding system based entirely on Openstreet Technology.

Another positive effect of this approach is that 24/7 taxi companies can now also work from home, and even from the taxi. Office costs are increasingly being questioned. And yet in the rental and trade in real estate, confidence in the survival is highest, 75 percent of companies think they can keep it up for at least another year.

Also read: Pitane Mobility unites in the MaaS Lab of the KNV