The last century has seen the car culture spreading over the entire globe. 

All of us have been experiencing the absolute duopoly in the cab-hailing market unless you have been living under a rock. 

Between the global major Uber technologies, some homegrown ride-sharing companies at various locations and countries have conquered the streets, leaving little room for the new competitors to join. 

This fact is taking its toll on the regional cab aggregators which seem to be ready to give up on their dreams to become a part of the ride-sharing world. 

Many of the homegrown taxi aggregators that have managed to stay afloat are striving hard to do something that could gain them an audience. 

But the coming years seem promising for these small taxi aggregators.

Be it the passenger comfort or ease of booking, the global ride-hailing market is just not by any chance dying. 

There is a sure sign of a surge in the demand for ride-hailing services on a worldwide basis. But there are some recent reports that show a major shift in the industry.

According to the latest report, the worldwide global ride-hailing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 21% by 2023. 

Current scenario of ride-hailing:

Without a doubt, North America is the highest contributor to the global market of ride-hailing, Asia-pacific ranging the second. 

In the year 2017, the global market for ride-sharing was valued at $36 million. 

According to the latest studies, it is projected to increase to $126 million by 2025. 

The valuations of the giants in the industry are as follows:

• Uber- 72 Billion

• Didi Chuxing- 56 Billion

• Lyft- 11.5 Billion

• Daimler- 7.1 Billion

• Grab- 6 Billion

• Ola- 3.8 Billion

• BlaBla Car- 1.6 Billion

But to the surprise, the scenario is soon changing with the acquisition of SPLT by Bosch and Sony’s partnership with Tokyo taxi. The development of technologies and the rise of AI is responsible for all the changes that will be part of the future. 

The growth of ride-sharing trends can be judged on the basis of a study in America which states that there are fewer Americans going for a driver’s license and instead opting for carsharing memberships. After considering this fact, we can see the future advancement of ride-hailing services. 

The pursuit of Global Dominance; the rise of New Players 

The ride-hailing trend is emerging in a futuristic landscape of shared mobility and it is proving itself worthy of providing quick, convenient, and cost-effective transportation thus satisfying the user’s needs. 

It follows the same taxi form of commuting but the ride-sharing business connects the rider and the driver in real-time through the app. 

This makes the user aware of the pricing in advance before confirming the trip and providing them transportation right at their doorstep. 

The business-side of ride-hailing platforms has provided huge opportunities for people seeking employment.

Factors that drive the growth of the ride-hailing service industry

• The rise in the trend of on-demand transportation services

On-demand transportation services include taxis, passenger vehicles, and charter vehicles.

These services provide real-time feedback, tracking of the vehicle, and rating for service experience as an option for the riders. 

The ride-hailing services ensure that the customers are able to locate their rides easily and also track their journey as a safety measure. 

The taxi booking platform allows a user to compare the prices before booking one. 

• Increase in employment opportunities

The taxi booking services are offering the drivers to work for full or part-time. 

More than 40% of drivers in America have opted to become full-time drivers for taxi booking companies. 

According to a report, Uber agreed that the company is creating more than 50,000 new jobs almost every month. 

The expansion of ride-hailing services like Lyft, Uber, Ola, Careem, Taxify, and others is expected to create many employment opportunities worldwide.

• Increase in trend of mobility-as-a-service

People who do not own their own car or who do not wish to drive can always depend on taxi booking services and experience seamless travel through mobility services. 

According to the Bureau of transportation, the average cost to own a vehicle goes around $8858 if you travel 15K miles per year. 

But going for taxi booking decreases such costs for the users. 

It also provides improved utilization of transport services. Therefore, the digitally enabled ride-hailing and taxi booking seem to be the smartest way to manage travel needs. 

The process of taxi booking includes everything from travel planning to payments which are sorted through just a mobile app. 

There are some other factors which impact the ride-hailing service market :

The above diagram depicts the ride-hailing sector in the year 2017 and the expected growth in the year 2025. 

And as discussed above, there are certain factors that lead to the growth of the industry. 

However, due to the low rate of internet usage in some developing countries, there are chances of lowered usage of taxi booking apps in those areas. 

But, on the face of the world wherever there is digitalization, there is growth in the usage of these apps.

So, for the startups or the taxi aggregator who wants to expand their taxi booking business, there is no need to worry and wind up your dreams at all. The only thing that you need to do to take your business to the next level is going digital. 

COVID-19 is the major challenge for taxi apps. How to deal with it?

The entire taxi industry is suffering a great loss due to the pandemic. 

In March 2020 when coronavirus was yet to tighten its grip over the entire world,  Uber reported a drop of daily rides by 60-70% and a loss of a whopping $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2020.  

Other popular taxi booking app Lyft experienced the same downward trend. 

However, they found a way to lock horns with the challenges raised along with the pandemic. 

Since Uber already had the logistic infrastructure and people are more likely to avoid a visit to the grocery store, it started delivering groceries and medicines to the doorstep of the users. 

It made us realize the power of the super app like GoJek that offers multiple services from the same app. 

If you are planning to develop a taxi app in 2020 or 2021, you should also explore the other modules such as courier delivery, food delivery, grocery delivery – from the same taxi app. 

This will not only generate multiple revenue streams, but it will also help you to cover a large customer base and give you a competitive edge over other competitors. 

Get an exclusive live demo of the taxi + courier delivery app and free consultation from our most experienced business expert 

We identified the taxi app market challenge before anyone else could. As a result, we successfully developed a cutting edge platform for taxi + courier delivery. 

With it, you can own, maintain, and pay for just a single app, but you will get a feature set of both apps (taxi + courier) in a single app. 

You will also get a free consultation to get started with courier delivery from the taxi app as you might not be familiar with such a business model. 

The platform we engineered is highly customizable. That means, our in-house developers and designers can easily add your unique features and UI. 

It is truly one of its kind, worth your attention. We don’t charge anything to show you the demo of the app and provide consultation.