Hamburg taxi study shows flexible pricing increases revenue and ridership

A study evaluating a taxi pricing pilot program in Hamburg, Germany, indicates that flexible fixed prices benefit both passengers and taxi companies. The evaluation, conducted by the Hamburg Transport Senator, the North Statistical Office, the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB), and platforms including FreeNow by Lyft, Uber, and Bolt, analyzed 5.5 million individual trips recorded since February 2024.

According to Professor Andreas Knie of the WZB, the introduction of fixed prices initially led to a 5% increase in the number of trips and a 9% increase in revenue compared to traditional taximeter billing. The trial later expanded to include pricing corridors, allowing platforms to adjust prices by up to 20% above or below the fixed rate. Under the first corridor, which allowed for price increases of up to 20%, the number of trips rose by 14% and revenue increased by 19% compared to the previous taximeter system.