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15 years of taxi via the Freenow app in Munich: Cab drivers drive to the Moon and back 146 times.
More than 112 million kilometers have been covered by taxis arranged through the platform since then. In other words, that distance would mathematically reach the Moon and back 146 times. The growth isn't just a matter of distances. In the past ten years, the number of active drivers on the platform has increased by around 140 percent. At the same time, there is a remarkable continuity: around 400 drivers who were already registered in 2011 are still active today.
„Fifteen years of presence in Munich are a special occasion for us to thank the drivers in Munich. They shape our platform in the city and ensure that Munich residents reliably get from A to B. That many drivers have accompanied us over the years shows how strongly Freenow by Lyft is anchored in the local taxi trade and how important a close partnership with the drivers is for our success,“ says Carlos Thayer, General Manager Germany and Austria.
Maxvorstadt to Central Station
The data paint a precise picture of daily urban life. Trips begin most often in Maxvorstadt and end around the Central Station. These are central spaces where commuters, students, and tourists move about. There is also a clear hierarchy among the destinations: Theresienwiese tops the list, followed by Marienplatz, the Olympiapark in Munich, and the Allianz Arena. Places, that is, where events converge—from Oktoberfest to football matches.
The timing patterns are also clear. Especially on weekends, demand shifts into the night hours, with a focus shortly after midnight. At the same time, the service has accelerated: More than 80 percent of passengers are now picked up within three minutes. This is not only a logistical advance, but also an indication of the densification of the offering.
More than 10 percent of trips are electric now
Technologically, the industry has also changed. The share of electric trips has risen from a barely measurable 0.4 percent in 2011 to over ten percent in 2025. The development in payments is even more pronounced: while cash used to dominate, today a large portion of transactions is digital.
Individual metrics illustrate usage in detail: The longest documented trip covered around 670 kilometers from Schwabing to Lake Zurich and back. A passenger used the app more than 40,000 times – roughly seven trips per day over years. Such extreme values are exceptions, but they point to the breadth of the business.
Aggressive market entry with 'mytaxi'
Yet the history of the platform is not only a story of growth. Especially the early years under the name mytaxi are rightly viewed critically by parts of the industry to this day. Taxi associations and many entrepreneurs recall a phase in which aggressive discount campaigns and an expansive market strategy intensified competition. Added to this was the opening of the platform to rental-car offers, which in Germany are subject to regulatory provisions different from taxi. This led to significant distortions in competition. Critics accused the company of blurring the boundaries between transport modes. In the meantime Freenow has clearly aligned itself with the taxi trade and ceased the taxi-like rental-car traffic due to lack of profitability. But especially after the sale of Freenow to the American Uber competitor Lyft, some in the industry have become a bit more alert again.
Freenow as a Partner of the Taxi Industry
Freenow is now positioning itself more strongly as a partner of the taxi trade and emphasizes cooperation with the drivers. Internally, the development is also understood as a long-term process.
"In 2011 we started Freenow by Lyft in many cities. Munich was one of the first expansion cities. This makes me personally very proud, because I was able to accompany and witness this development from the very beginning," says Alexander Mönch, President of the company for Germany and Austria.
Thus the anniversary stands for two developments at once: the digitalization of a traditional trade—and for a market that is still in the negotiation process.
Content automatically translated.
Taxi-Fahrzeuge (Pkw) , Taxi-Newsletter, Taxameter, Taxi-Fahrer , BZP – Deutscher Taxi- und Mietwagenverband , Straßenverkehrsordnung (StVO) , Krankenbeförderung , Weiterbildung , Taxi-Konzessionen , Verkehrspolitik , Mietwagenbranche , Taxi-Apps , Berufskraftfahrer-Qualifikations-Gesetz BKrFQG) , Taxizentralen , Personal, Gehälter, Arbeitsschutz , Wirtschaftsnachrichten , Werbung , Taxi-Folierung , Taxi-Umrüster , Straßenverkehr , Elektromobilität, Taxifuhrpark und -flottenmanagement , Taxi-Versicherungen , Hybrid, Diesel, Erdgas , Taxi-Magazin
