Transport and Covid-19: responses and resources

App-Based Ride and Taxi Services: Principles for Regulation

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App-based transport services are rapidly gaining popularity. They are easy to use and allocate spare transport capacity more efficiently than traditional for-hire providers. But their success challenges established regulatory frameworks and has caught authorities off guard. Regulatory responses have attempted to block such services or incrementally tweak rules to include them. This report, based on a workshop with app-based operators, the taxi industry, regulators and academics, seeks to identify the points of consensus on regulating for-hire passenger transport services as well as persistent points of tension that need focused attention to resolve.

Policy Insights

  • Focus policy regarding for-hire passenger transport on the needs of consumers and society. 
  • Keep the regulation framework of for-hire passenger transport services as simple and uniform as possible.
  • Encourage innovative and more flexible regulation of for-hire transport services. 
  • Embrace data-led regulation to improve societal outcomes.

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