Taxi transport, Q4 2009

A total of 34 million trips were made in 2009 and this meant 7.0 taxi trips per capita compared to 7.4 trips in 2008. The taxi industry covered a distance of 630 million kilometres in 2009; a reduction of 1.4 per cent from the preceding year. Out of this, 390 million kilometres were driven with passengers on board. Consequently, the average taxi trip per passenger was about 11.4 kilometres in 2009 compared with 11.3 kilometres in 2008.

An average taxi trip took 28 minutes in 2009; unaltered between 2008 and 2009. Capacity utilisation, measured as a share of kilometres driven with passengers to total kilometres driven, was 61.8 per cent. Capacity utilisation measured as a share of taxi hours on offer, however, was 43.9 per cent. In other words, an average taxi is occupied for 61.8 per cent of the distance covered or 43.9 per cent of the times it is in operation.

Big city phenomenon

On average, a resident in Oslo drove 13 taxicab trips in 2009, while the national average was about 7.0 trips.

Turnover per taxi hours on offer was highest in Akershus and Oslo, with NOK 327 and 289 respectively. Three of the counties, namely Oslo, Akershus and Hordaland, accounted for over 40 per cent of the industry’s total turnover and transport activity.

Towards better times

After a persistent decline in 2009, data from the 4^th quarter of 2009 indicate a change in trend. Despite the fact that the annual data for 2009 was lower than that of the preceding year, indicators for the 4^th quarter in 2009 show an upward trend. The number of taxi trips increased by 0.2 per cent, while turnover rose by 0.4 per cent during the 4^th quarter of 2009 relative to the same quarter in 2008.

Tables:

• Table 1 Taxi statistics. 1st quarter 2007-4th quarter 2009
• Table 2 Taxi statistics. Transport performances by county. 2007-2009
• Table 3 Taxi statistics. Selected main figures by county. 2007-2009
• Table 4 Taxi statistics. Number of taxi licences/taxicabs by county. 2009