Evaluating Profitability of Traditional Taxi Services in Urban Arteries

Abstract

Traditional taxis have an important place in urban mobility because taxis provide flexible, comfortable and door-to-door service to passengers. However, for the continuity of traditional taxi services, profitability analyzes were needed despite the sharing economy. For this reason, the focus of this study is traditional taxis. This study aims to analyze the profitability of traditional taxi services in the urban arteries of Istanbul. For this purpose, a survey was conducted with 35 taxis and 70 taxi drivers. Then a model was then developed consisting of the independent variables number of trips (TRP), total trip distance (DST) and efficiency (EFF) that affect the profitability of taxi services. Additionally, contour plots were used to more accurately evaluate the effect of independent variables. As a result, it was concluded that the most important variable affecting the profitability of traditional taxi services is the efficiency (EFF) independent variable.