Why is it so hard to find a taxi in Budapest these days?

The negative effects of the coronavirus did not spare the taxi companies either. There are thousands of drivers, who left their former job; thus, it has become much more complicated to find a taxi in Budapest.

In the past, it was relatively easy to find an available car, when calling a taxi company. Now things have changed and sometimes the taxi is very late or there are no available cars. Even calling the taxi in advance does not help much. Although, some customers came up with a trick. Some of them say that they will travel outside of the city, but once they get in the car, it turns out that the drive will be much shorter. –writes novekedes.hu.

The taxi companies face two difficulties: reaching the address takes more time, and many taxi drivers quit their job amidst the pandemic. While in Budapest there were almost 7,000 taxi drivers before the pandemic, now their number dropped to 5,000.

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The taxi driver career does not seem to appeal to many people. First of all, they need to spend millions of forints to begin their career. Cars make up most of these expenses. A car that is suitable to be used as a taxi, and conforms to the legal requirements, costs about 5-6 million forints (EUR 13,996 – 16,796). Secondly, an occasional 30 – 40 per cent profit loss makes life a lot more difficult for taxi drivers. Understandably, people look for more secure jobs.

Some taxi companies explored other business ventures to survive the pandemic.

Főtaxi, for instance, is now delivering packages. – writes hvg. The Főtaxi GO, the courier service of Főtaxi, is available in Budapest and in the agglomeration. The packages are picked up within a maximum of four hours, but urgent delivery that takes up 5-10 minutes is also an available option.

According to the taxi company’s website, the cars are in perfect technical condition, clean and regularly disinfected. Drivers always choose the shortest and fastest route. The delivery fee is based on the taxi meter. The taxi application can be used to track the status of the taxi and the expected arrival time. The service has been available for some time and taxis deliver packages at any hour of the day.

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Source: novekedes.hu, hvg.hu, fotaxi.hu