Digital taxi dispatch in Cologne: Free Now takes stock of 15 years.

In January 2011, Freenow by Lyft launched in Cologne as the first app for the digital booking of taxi rides. Fifteen years later, the company, drawing on extensive platform data, takes stock of the development of taxi traffic in the Rhine metropolis.

According to the company, the number of active drivers on the platform in Cologne has risen by around 40 percent over the past ten years. Currently, more than 700 of the roughly 1,150 licensed taxis in the city are available via the app. Thus, more than half of all taxi rides in Cologne are now digitally booked via the app.

Longer distances and shorter waiting times

Since the platform's launch, Cologne taxis via Freenow have covered a total distance that equates to roughly 175 Earth circumnavigations. At the same time, the average trip length has increased significantly. While it was 3.7 kilometers in 2011, by 2025 it stood at around 6.8 kilometers.

At the same time, the waiting times for passengers have shortened. While the average waiting time was 6.5 minutes in 2011, by 2025 users had to wait a maximum of five minutes for a taxi.

Fixed prices and cashless payments are taking hold

Another development step was the introduction of the taxi fixed-price option in February 2025. Since then, in Cologne more than half of the rides have been carried out without a taximeter at a pre-agreed price. The method of payment has also changed. While in 2011 around 37 percent of passengers paid cashless, today 84 percent use digital payment via the app.