Hamburg in Focus – The Battle for the Next Passenger

The finding is quickly described: fewer vehicles, but more competition. “Hamburg's taxi drivers suffer from shrinking revenues and fight against alternative ride services for customers,” says the show's description. What sounds abstract becomes concrete faces on camera.

Order in a State of Emergency

One of them is Daniel Lebastchi. 28 years old, taxi driver — and in special moments something like a coordinator in his own trade. When cruise ships dock, the routine is disrupted. Then more than 100 taxi drivers stand by for lucrative tours.

Lebastchi describes these situations as “a huge spectacle,” where it can get really stressful. His task is then to bring order into a situation that can tip quickly: drivers who are vying for positions, passengers who want to move on quickly, and a system that only works if everyone cooperates. The scene exemplifies an industry that must regulate itself as external pressure increases.

A Rougher Climate

This pressure is also felt by Ingrid Seele. She is 88 years old, runs a taxi company, and still sits behind the wheel herself. For five decades she has known the trade—and describes a change that has less to do with technology than with attitude.

“The climate has grown rougher, and collegiality is no longer valued,” she says.

It is a sentence that goes beyond the individual case. Where taxi stands and rides were previously allocated among colleagues, today there is often competition up to the limit. The economic situation intensifies social tensions within the industry. Seele also observes a change in the treatment of passengers.

“Unfortunately, not every colleague treats customers like passengers anymore.”

The sentence sounds like a warning—and a reminder that the taxi is not only a means of transport, but also a service promise.

Control as self-protection

That this promise is not self-evident is shown by another figure in the report: Andreas Wettlaufer. He drives not only a taxi, but also monitors his colleagues on behalf of the industry. His task seems unobtrusive, but is central to the image of the trade.

"Not all the papers and vehicles are in order," he says.

Checks thus become an instrument of self-assertion – against authorities, but also against new competitors who appear with different business models.

Fewer taxis, more competition

The reportage works with a paradox: the number of taxis has declined, but competition has intensified.  This is less due to internal competition than to external providers – platform services, rental car fleets, new mobility forms.

For the drivers, this means above all one thing: more downtime, less predictable earnings. The classic hotspots – airports, main train stations – become nerve centers where the situation tightens.