Fewer taxi trips
The average taxi trip per capita fell by 14 percent from 7.4 taxi trips in 2008 to 6.4 taxi trips in 2009. A similar decline was also registered on the other indicators in 2009 relative to 2008, with the exception of turnover, which rose slightly, by 0.4 percent. During the 4th quarter of 2009, however, the tide, though weak, tends to have turned upwards.
A total of 34 million trips were made in 2009 and this meant 6.4 taxi trips per capita compared to 7.4 trips in 2009. The taxi industry covered a distance of 630 million kilometers in 2009; a reduction of 1.4 percent from the preceding year. Out of this, 390 million kilometers were driven with passengers on board. Consequently, the average taxi trip per passenger was about 12.1 kilometers in 2009 compared with 11.3 kilometers in 2008.
An average taxi trip took 28 minutes in 2009; unaltered between 2008 and 2009. Capacity utilization, measured as a share of kilometers driven with passengers to total kilometers driven, was 62.6 percent. Capacity utilization measured as a share of taxi hours on offer, however, was 42.8 percent. In other words, an average taxi is occupied for 62.1 percent of the distance covered or 42.8 percent 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 6.4 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 percent of the industry’s total turnover and transport activity.
Towards better times
After a persistent decline in 2009, data from the 4th 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 4th quarter in 2009 show an upward trend. The number of taxi trips increased by 0.2 percent, while turnover rose by 0.4 percent during the 4th quarter of 2009 relative to the same quarter in 2008.
Source: Statistics Norway
