Ride Hailing ,

What’s Next for Europe in the Global Ride-Hailing Race?

What’s Next for Europe in the Global Ride-Hailing Race?

Updated on January 24, 2025
9 min read

According to a report by Statista, the European ride-hailing market has been substantially growing and is anticipated to continue its growth in the coming years as well.

Companies such as Uber, Didi, OLA, Lyft, etc. were dominating the ride-sharing market before 2020 covering most of the European ride-hailing market.

The revenue of the European ride-hailing market was US$14.99 billion in 2019, which took a hit and went down to US$9.76 billion in 2020, due to the pandemic Covid-19.

After Covid-19, companies like Laka, Bolt, Free Now, Zity, Cabify, etc. emerged in Europe as some of the best ride-hailing companies.

Between 2021 to 2024, the ride-hailing market showed steady growth and grew from US$13.36 billion to US$19.44 billion respectively.

It is expected to reach US$23.86 billion by the year 2029 in Europe.

These stats showcase a steady growth in the European ride-hailing market and a lot of new businesses emerging and finding new opportunities to grow in the European ride-hailing industry.

In this blog, we will dive deep into the challenges and trends of the ride-hailing market in Europe. Also, we will learn about Europe's ride-hailing future.

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The current state of ride-hailing in Europe

As we saw earlier in the blog, the growth in the European ride-hailing market has been steady since 2020, the time when the Corona pandemic happened. It is majorly dominated by well-established ride-hailing businesses like Uber, Bolt, FreeNow, Ola, and Yandex Go.

With the growth of ride-hailing, the market competition has also grown over the years. Apart from the list of well-established ride-hailing businesses, Europe has witnessed a lot of emerging local ride-hailing competitors. According to a stat, there are 4.06k shared mobility startups in Europe.

The picture is very clear on why the market has shown steady growth in Europe. Business owners have seen a great opportunity to become successful in this market, as the demand for ride-hailing services has constantly grown over the years. By the end of this decade, almost 190 million people, 40% of Europeans, will be opting for ride-hailing services to meet their mobility requirements.

Read More: A closer look at the ride-hailing landscape of the Western and Central Europe

Challenges faced by the European ride-hailing market

Even though the market has been growing for the last few years and has a promising future, certain challenges hold ride-hailing companies from offering their best service to their customers. Let’s see what those challenges are.

Regulatory and legal hurdles

There are strict regulations set for the European ride-hailing market. Even though the regulations differ from country to country, operating a ride-hailing business becomes tough. The scalability of the company becomes questionable due to the different laws for taxi licenses, requirements of drivers, operational permits, etc. Offering ride-hailing services across Europe with such widely different laws and regulations is quite a challenge for businesses.

Intense Europe ride-hailing competition

With the increasing demand in the ride-hailing sector, the number of businesses offering this service has also increased by a significant margin. With this rise in the ride-hailing market, the competition was never been so intense. From local taxi operators to internationally well-established ride-hailing businesses everyone is competing and innovating their business to stand out in the competitive market.

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Sustainability and environmental concerns

For the public transport sector in Europe, a lot of new legislation has been passed in 2019-2024. These legislatures have been affecting the European ride-hailing businesses. The Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy (SSMS) and the EU’s Urban Mobility Framework call for modal shifts and more sustainable daily mobility. To overcome these challenges, ride-hailing companies need to make the shift towards (EVs) and adopt sustainable practices as soon as possible.

Technological limitations and innovation cost

For emerging ride-hailing businesses in Europe, one of the main challenges is to innovate their strategies in order to compete with market giants like Uber, Bolt, etc. Investing upfront costs for adopting technologies can prove to be expensive for small ride-hailing businesses. But to match the level of services well-established businesses offer, the power of AI, automation, etc. is quite crucial.

Constant adaptability has made the European ride-hailing market one of the preferred choices for European people for their transport. Here are a few trends of ride-hailing in Europe.

E-scooters and bike-sharing

Transport options such as E-scooters and bike-sharing have made the lives of European people a lot easier. These transport options allow them to transport at a cost-friendly fare. According to a report, the bike riders shared in Europe usually pay between,

  • € 0.50 ($0.58) to € 1 ($1.16) per trip

  • € 3-4 ($3.49-4.65) to go to work and back

  • € 10-12 ($11.63-13.96) for a full day of cycling

It is anticipated that these rates can even get lower in the future if bike-sharing gets further integrated into the monthly travel cards.

Women for women

Safety for women has always been a concern for the transport business. To tackle this issue, Europe has adopted the women-for-women business model. This innovative way of transport impacts two major concerns. The first is the enhancement of the safety of women passengers, and the second is to empower women in transport.

The TUMI (Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative) launched “Women Mobilize Women” in May 2018, as the first initiative for empowering women in the transport sector, with 200 female as well as male transport experts gathering in Leipzig, Germany. These initiatives have diversified the transportation sector for European ride-hailing companies.

Lower prices and improved services

With the increase in ride-hailing demand and the emergence of a lot of new ride-hailing businesses in Europe, the cut down in prices and improvement in services has been a noticeable trend.

In order to stay competitive and attract as many customers as possible, European ride-hailing companies are offering affordable rides to their customers without compromising their service quality.

emerge-as-a-best-ride-hailing-service-provider-with-yelowsoft

Predictions for the Europe ride-hailing future

We saw the current trends of the European ride-hailing market, now let’s ponder upon its futuristic advancements that are anticipated. Let’s see.

Expansion of electric and autonomous fleets

Increasing operational costs due to excessive fuel consumption is always going to be a challenge for ride-hailing businesses. To overcome this challenge, expanding the fleet with electric and autonomous vehicles can be the need of the hour for businesses. This way, they can not only cut down on their operational costs but also adopt sustainable and eco-friendly options to service their customers better.

European ride-hailing businesses can also tackle the challenge of adhering to strict government regulations easily. Therefore, in the future, the adaptation of electric and autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing is going to have a positive impact on both ride-hailing businesses and their customers.

Read More: Explore the Rise of electric vehicles in delivery businesses

Personalized services for customers

Customers are more inclined towards the business that delivers them unforgettable experiences. So, with the advancements in tech, businesses are going to find ways to deliver such experiences to their customers by personalizing their services.

Even at present, with the help of ride-hailing solutions, businesses can generate data that showcases every individual customer’s ride history. This data can be further analyzed for delivering high-quality personalized services to its customers. Imagine, if today, offering personalized service to customers is manageable, how easy it will get In the future, with the help of AI.

Sustainability and green innovation

To stay competitive in the coming future, ride-hailing companies have to go green. They need to find the right balance. As they would have to reduce their carbon footprint without impacting their ride-hailing services.

Carbon-neutral rides, bike-sharing, carpooling, EVs, etc. can be the most effective way to reduce carbon emissions and offer green and sustainable ride-hailing services to customers.

Conclusion

In this blog, we saw how the European ride-hailing market has grown and is going to continue growing in the future as well. A lot of new businesses have emerged over the years to tackle the mobility needs of European people. In this blog, we also saw the challenges, trends, and the future of the European ride-hailing market. Trends like women for women, e-scooters, etc. have been a major influence in shaping the future of ride-hailing in Europe.

For businesses to be competitive in the future as well, they need to find ways such as offering autonomous vehicles, sustainable rides, etc. to stay competitive and stand out as a business. If you also want to be successful in this market, Yelowsoft can help you grow. To know more, you can connect with the expert team of Yelowsoft.

unlock-efficiency-and-scale-effortlessly-with-yelowsoft-s-ride-hailing-software

FAQ's

Strict regulations changing from country to country is one of the major differences between the US/Asia and the European ride-hailing market. Unique laws and sustainability challenges also set the European ride-hailing industry apart from the others. But, even after such challenges, the ride-hailing market in Europe has seen significant growth over the past few years.

With the government pushing the Europe transport business to adopt sustainable practices, the role of electric vehicles becomes very important. It helps ride-hailing companies to ensure that they reduce carbon emissions, resulting in a better environment. EVs are going to be the trend for the future not only in Europe but all over the world.

By the end of this decade, almost 40% of European people are going to select ride-hailing services as their primary mode of transport. It is very clear that with the increase in demand, the expectations of customers are also going to rise. Tech such as ride-hailing solutions can help ride-hailing businesses a lot in improving their service quality.

Varied regulations and laws create a challenging situation for ride-hailing businesses in Europe. From strict rules on licensing to adopting sustainable practices, government regulations and laws have increased the operating challenges for European ride-hailing businesses.

Adopting electric vehicles, autonomous fleets, and offering personalized services are a few future trends for European ride-hailing services. Apart from these, to manage the strict regulations and laws imposed by the European government, implementing sustainable practices is going to be a future trend for European ride-hailing services.

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Mushahid Khatri

Mushahid Khatri is the Chief Executive Officer of Yelowsoft, one of the leading taxi dispatch and on-demand delivery solution providers. He is a visionary leader who believes in imparting his profound knowledge that is leaned on business and entrepreneurship.

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