Transport services in the shared economy segment compared to traditional taxi services: The case study of the Czech Republic

Abstract

This research deals with the arguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of shared economy in the field of passenger transport in the Czech Republic. The main purpose of the research is to compare some ridesharing platforms, namely, Uber, Liftago and Taxify and traditional taxi services regarding their starting rates and a characteristic of the cars that they use. Investigation of the topic shows that starting rates and quality of services of these platforms differ regarding the locations and ride-hailing services. Therefore, analysing various sharing economy platforms in the Czech Republic regarding transportation and finding differences among them might create value addition for sharing economy literature. In this regard, this paper applies a research technique that consists of interviews and direct observation in the provision of transport services. In the research, a primary survey was carried out; In terms of secrecy, scenarios of interviews and cover-stories were prepared to motivate respondents to more open communication. Respondents were providers of transport services in the form of classic taxis, Uber, Liftago and Taxify, the most important providers of passenger taxis in the monitored cities. The research was carried out in 2017/2018 in different cities of the Czech Republic, namely, Prague and Ostrava. The obtained data were processed in the SPSS IBM Statistics program using the methods of descriptive statistics. The results of the research show that in the analysed parameters, the ride-hailing platforms do not provide cheaper services in the monitored markets and that their prices are comparable to those of traditional providers. For this reason, travellers, users and providers of ride-hailing services can benefit from this study by considering the differences that this research proves.