Asia-Pacific Two-Wheeler Taxi Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The demand for two-wheeler taxis are growing, as these are cheaper and faster than cab services. Ease of riding motorcycles in congested traffic, rising middle-class family income and low charges when compared with cabs are expected to drive the Asia-Pacific taxi market.

With the growing use of smartphones, development of wireless infrastructure backed by the presence of 4G services and with the advancements in information and communication technology (ICT), traditional services have been upgraded to provide a wide variety of real-time and demand-responsive trips. Service providers such as Uber, Ola, Grab, and Rapido, amongst others, have provided a smartphone-based platform to link riders with community drivers.

The two-wheeler mobility landscape is undergoing a dynamic change, with bike taxi space reporting double-digit growth. Bike taxis saw a growth of around 10% on a month-on-month basis between November 2018 and January 2019 in India. This is because they are much more affordable than cabs and provide for easy maneuvering in traffic congestion.

India is the second-most populous country in the world, and most of the people fall under the middle-class category who utilize two – wheeler and auto-rickshaws (local three-wheeler taxis) for commuting short distances. The bike taxis are more affordable than cabs, and can zip through congested roads, they are popular among millennials. On an average, a bike taxi ride costs INR 60-70, whereas a cab ride costs INR 150 - 200 for the same distance.

In tier I towns, the two – wheeler taxi services are used frequently for last-mile connectivity. In Gurugram, for instance, one out of every two UberMoto trips begin or end at a metro station; in Noida, the same is true for one out of every four UberMoto trips.

In tier II cities and beyond, bike taxi services are popular because of the lack of public transport infrastructure.

Vietnam is another country where two – wheeler taxis are witnessing rapid growth due to the high ownership of two-wheelers. Ho Chi Minh is located in the southern region of Vietnam and is one of the most motorcycle-dependent cities, with 680 motorcycles per 1000 habitants. In 2014, the introduction of Grab brought exponential increase of 50,000 drivers from 100 drivers. The main users of motorcycle taxis belong to the middle- and low-income level population. Such services are mainly used for medium distances (5–10 km), especially by students and workers.