Uber and Bolt challenge Upper Austria’s taxi industry

New app-based ride services are gaining ground in Upper Austria as traditional taxis deal with fewer passengers and a sharp decline in night-time business, ORF reports. Younger people and tourists increasingly want to book digitally and pay without cash.

Services such as Uber and, more recently, Bolt are becoming more visible. Uber driver Habib Bezir, who has been working in the industry since 2004, said customers valued quick mobile booking, a fixed fare shown in advance and cashless payment. The app also displays the driver’s name and vehicle registration number, as well as the vehicle’s precise location.

Uber has operated in Linz and Wels since 2024, shifting the market in those cities towards digital services. In rural areas, however, Uber and similar providers currently play no role in transport, where traditional taxis remain dominant.

About 3,000 taxis operate in Upper Austria, including vehicles used for school and kindergarten transport. Around 650 are conventional taxis.

The industry is also changing independently of the new competitors. Night-time business has fallen sharply since the coronavirus pandemic. Werner Rammerstorfer, a taxi operator and head of the taxi trade group at the Economic Chamber, said that some nights now saw only 20 vehicles operating, compared with as many as 200 in the past, and that those vehicles had few journeys.

Rammerstorfer said taxi operators had become more than providers of rides, describing their role as supporting people in everyday life and helping to maintain their mobility. The industry hopes this personal service will help it remain competitive.

Renate Ragger, who has driven a taxi in Linz for 26 years, said traditional taxis would retain their place if drivers remained friendly and helpful. She also pointed to their flexibility: passengers can change their route during a journey and, through the central office, request a preferred driver.

The CC Taxicenter GmbH said Uber and Bolt have also been legally classified as taxis since an amendment to Austria’s Occasional Transport Act in 2021. It added that digital services did not begin with the arrival of those companies. Linz taxi service 2244 had offered its own booking app since 2012, while cashless payment and fares known in advance had also been available for years.