This August 2019, it will be five years since the first alternative taxis entered the Czech taxi market. A whole lot has changed during that time: they have become part of the daily life of the big city, thanks to the competitive pressure they have helped to improve the situation in the industry as well as the reputation of the taxi drivers themselves. At the same time, their worldwide rise has triggered a legislative debate in the Czech Republic on how to bring existing regulation in line with the principles of a digitally oriented economy. The Czech Confederation of Commerce and Tourism, in cooperation with the IPSOS research agency, has mapped the reputation of alternative taxis in Prague.
The knowledge and use of alternative taxis in the capital are high. The vast majority of Prague citizens know about alternative taxis and half of them have direct experience with them in the last 3 years. This is confirmed by the fact that in the event of a public transport outage, the vast majority of respondents would choose one of the alternative services – Uber (41 %), Bolt (11 %), and the regular taxi 27 %.
Moreover, Prague residents are very satisfied with the services of alternative taxis and respondents had a minimum of negative experience. With a regular taxi service, 18 % of passengers have had a negative experience over the past 3 years, most of them being disproportionate prices or disproportionately long journey time. The main reason why Prague citizens like alternative taxis are the lower cost of transport (78 %), the possibility to pay by card (52 %) and the availability of service (42 %). Furthermore, they appreciate the behavior of drivers (32 %) and the ability to assess their satisfaction (31 %). Moreover, 3 out of 4 Prague citizens agree that alternative taxis have a positive overall impact on the entire transport market.
