More than half of Finnish people don’t trust taxi services – new app from Futurice aims to fix this
According to the new survey, over half of the Finnish population don’t trust the taxi services anymore. Valopilkku is a new app designed to bring trust and business back to the taxi industry and compete with Uber.
Helsinki, Finland (May 25th, 2022) In response to the declining taxi business due to a lack of trust and transparency in the Finnish taxi industry, the global digital engineering and innovation company Futurice has announced the launch of a new app called Valopilkku. The app is available in Finnish in Appstore and Google Play.
The new app is an answer to the shocking results of a new survey, conducted in April 2022 by Bilendi Ltd, that targeted over 1,000 taxi-using consumers. The survey showed that over half of the respondents don’t trust the taxi industry as much as they used to, with only 41% still trusting the industry. Reasons for the general opinion on the industry has been largely affected by the unclear pricing models and the driver’s incompetency in their work, mostly showcased by the drivers’ inability to drive to the wanted destination.
“The industry has been crippled by the worry of negative customer experiences. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic also dropped the number of taxi rides. When Finland introduced the new legislation on the taxi industry, that would open up the market to new players, the idea was that the industry would become more competitive – however, the results of the survey show the opposite,” explains Jari Kantonen, CEO of Valopilkku.
The taxi industry is under a change everywhere in Europe, with the European Commission in February 2022 launching a new guidance notice to the industry. The guidance clarifies how internal market rules should be applied to taxis and private hire vehicles, and how appropriate regulation can make these services more sustainable, accessible, and fair. Simultaneously, Uber, the one that originally created the new, customer-friendly interface on its app with the possibility to choose drivers, is facing multiple challenges in Europe with changing legislation that might damage Uber’s business model in European markets significantly. Thus, the need for the traditional taxi industry is there with the changing legislative and competitive landscape.
The survey also shed light on the aspects that the consumers would like to have when choosing their ride. Over 60% of the respondents wanted transparent pricing and information on the ride. Also, the ability to choose the driver and car was a significant factor for the respondents – all these features that Uber has had. In short, transparency and more information about the ride were key factors for consumers when choosing their ride. These are now features that Valopilkku offers with its 400 000 drivers registered in the app.
“We built the app on the premise that it will be the number one platform for safe and trustworthy taxi rides. We are really excited about launching an app that will always deliver top-notch service and thus, makes customers' lives easier. We also want to encourage the users to develop the app with us, so we can create something that is truly end-user friendly and based on the needs and wants of the customers,” explains Riku Valtasola, Managing Director, Finland, at Futurice.
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For additional information:
The survey was conducted by Bilendi Oy in their M3 Panel as an online survey between 19.-21.4.2022. The respondents were between 18 to 75 years old, and the number of respondents was 1000. The respondents represented the Finnish population by gender, age, and geographic location.
Media kit with pictures
Pia Hämäri, Marketing Lead Finland
Futurice
+358 50 442 4221
pia.hamari@futurice.com
Futurice
Founded in 2000 in Helsinki, Futurice aims to unleash a culture of innovation and create digital products and services that make companies and societies future capable. The Futurice team works with clients across industries and comprises over 650 experts in offices in Berlin, Helsinki, London, Munich, Stuttgart, Stockholm, and Tampere. For more information, visit www.futurice.com.
Valopilkku
Valopilkku Oy is owned by Taksi Helsinki and Sanoma Media Finland Oy. Valopilkku application is currently Finland's largest taxi transmission technology app with almost 400,000 users. The app currently works in 175 locations. The goal is to be the superior market leader in the taxi business.
For more information, visit https://valopilkkutaksi.fi/
