1. Richard Darbéra CNRS, Latts Scientific director of IVM's Taxi Project
Taxicab regulation and urban residents' perception of taxi services: a survey in eight cities
Richard Darbéra
CNRS, Latts
Scientific director of IVM's Taxi Project

2. The survey
A survey among the residents of New York and seven major European cities: Paris, London, Berlin, Lisbon, Dublin, Amsterdam and Stockholm.
42 questions including two open questions
3200 interviews, 400 in each city
Stratified sample:
300 users (had taken a taxi in the past year)
100 non-users
Age, gender, city/suburb

3. The supply regulation of taxi services
Taxis' number capped
Regulated fares
PHVs allowed
New York
Yes
Paris No
Lisbon
London
Berlin
Dublin
Stockholm X
Amsterdam

4. The open questions
Question 25: “What are all the measures that the authorities should put into place so that taxis may be a means of transport that better meets your needs?”
Question 27: “Thinking again about your taxi trips in another town in your country or abroad, what are all the aspects that you appreciated and that you would like to find during your next taxi trips in your town?”.
4700 answers resulting in 7500 opinions

5. Respondents/contacts Responses/respondents
Q25: What should be done
Respondents/contacts
Responses/respondents
Paris
63%
1,9
London
71%
1,8
New York
64%
Amsterdam
66%
Lisbon
77%
Berlin
57%
1,5
Dublin
72%
2,2
Stockholm
50%
1,7

6. Q27: What should be copied
Respondents/contacts
Responses/respondents
Paris
79%
1,5
London
83%
1,4
New York
67%
Amsterdam
88%
Lisbon
1,3
Berlin
78%
1,2
Dublin
93%
1,6
Stockholm
89%

7. The method 7500 opinions distributed in 9 broad themes
better vehicles,
better drivers,
better service,
lower fares,
better traffic conditions,
more taxis,
subsidies to users,
tax waivers to operators,
others
… divided in up to 9 sub-themes.
For instance, the sub-themes for “better vehicles” were: electric car, hybrid cars, non-polluting car, comfortable, air conditioning, physical separation driver / customer, larger taxis (minibus type), single colour (more visible taxis), and better signage for empty taxis.

8. Vehicles are better abroad
Better vehicles
Want better vehicles
Vehicles are better abroad
Paris
11%
13%
London 9%
10%
New York
12%
Amsterdam 8% 3%
Lisbon
15%
Berlin
Dublin
24%
25%
Stockholm
19% 4%

9. Better vehicles
But what is meant by better vehicles is quite different:
Dubliners want taxis to be more comfortable (9%) or larger, and more visible with single colour (6%)
… and appreciate these features when abroad
Swedes want non-polluting cars (13%), and some of them specify electric vehicles
Berliners also want larger taxis i.e. minibus type (6%)
New Yorkers want Hybrid Cars.

10. Drivers are better abroad
Better drivers
Want better drivers
Drivers are better abroad
Paris
16%
40%
London
24%
31%
New York
46%
Amsterdam
75%
38%
Lisbon
34%
37%
Berlin
15%
28%
Dublin
36%
39%
Stockholm
30%
32%

11. Better drivers Residents Amsterdam complain about
Refusal to accept short rides (5%)
Dishonesty (19%)
Poor knowledge of the city whereabouts (13%)
Reckless driving (8%)
Neither polite nor friendly (9%)
Lacking professionalism (14%)
Residents Paris complain about
Refusal to accept short rides (6%)
… and find drivers abroad much kinder (27%) !
Residents New York complain about drivers who do not speak English correctly (5%)

12. Lower fares Want lower fares Fares are lower abroad Paris 62% 28%
London
71%
36%
New York
40%
14%
Amsterdam
68%
55%
Lisbon
13%
Berlin
56%
23%
Dublin
57%
43%
Stockholm
41%
34%

13. Lower fares
Residents in Stockholm and New York complain much less than others
New York taxis are the cheapest in the world!
Fixed rates for a set of distances wanted in London, Amsterdam and Dublin
Parisians want
Subscription (season) cards probably meaning carte orange (5%) and subsidies to riders (6%)
Tax waivers for taxis operators wanted in Stockholm (16%) and Lisbon (15%) ?!

14. Want better availability
More taxis abroad
Paris
33%
19%
London
21% 9%
New York
23% 5%
Amsterdam 6%
Lisbon 3%
Berlin 4% 1%
Dublin
25%
10%
Stockholm 7%

15. Better availability per 1000 population Taxis Taxis & PHVs Drivers
Dublin
10,6
11,2
17,3
Stockholm
6,8
17,0
New York
1,6
6,3
11,1
London
3,2
8,5
8,6
Berlin
2,0
2,3
4,7
Amsterdam
2,4
3,3
Lisbon
2,2
Paris
2,6
2,8

16. Anything else? 16% New Yorkers have no special request
Residents in Berlin and Lisbon see no difference with other countries (35%)
Residents in Stockholm think taxis are best at home (9%)
Regulation vs deregulation is not an issue
Stockholm ≠ Amsterdam
London ≠ Dublin ≠ Berlin
Paris ≠ Lisbon
The issue is in the details of the regulation

17. Conclusion
Although their treatment is more cumbersome, open questions are an indispensable complement to surveys on taxi use.
Multiple-choice questions allow to draw statistics on trip frequencies, trip purpose, travel habits and preferences and even on the image of the taxi among all the other means of transport
Open questions let respondents vent their opinions, their grievances and their expectations about the taxi services they are delivered.
As such, they give policy makers as well as taxi operators valuable feedback information.

18. Further research Taxis in rural areas and small towns
France, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Sweden .

19. French taxis’ turnover depending on location
Rural
Towns
Suburbs
Large cities
Subsidized medical trips
80-90%
10-40% 5%
School transport
10-15%
10% 0%
Handicapped and elderly ?
Public transport complement
Taxi (telephone & ranks)
50-90%
90%

20. Taxis in rural areas & small towns
Particular attention will be given to:
How governments and social services contract taxis to provide mobility services to certain categories of the population.
We will assess the share of these markets in total turnover of the taxis
and will explore how taxis may organize to respond to calls for bids.

21. Taxis in rural areas & small towns
If you want to help: Please give me your business card so I can:
Send you the data we have already collected
Send you a short questionnaire
Come and visit you to present our provisional results and ask more questions .
Thank you