Taxi tie-up sees Bolt link with London’s black cabbies
A major taxi industry tie-up will see ride-hailing service Bolt make London’s black cabs available on their apps from today.
Londoners using Bolt will now be able to order London’s iconic taxis to get around the capital as the firm introduces a ‘black cab’ category on the app.
London’s cabbies have teamed up with mobility apps before, with FreeNow making the move after the acquisition of Hailo in 2019, but Bolt is by far the largest platform to include them in their service.
Josh Ryan, Bolt’s country manager for UK rides, said: “We’re really excited to be creating this category in London, linking drivers into a much bigger passenger pool and offering passengers more choice. “
“We have lots of experience of operating traditional taxi markets so we hope to be able to create a vibrant, mutually beneficial service that offers Londoners another way around in advance of the king’s coronation and warmer months.”
Bolt will add a small £2 booking fee to the metered trip fare, which drivers will receive. On top of this, the firm will receive a £2 fee for each trip.
Commission will be suspended for drivers brought into the scheme before 30 April 2023. After that, Bolt will charge the £2 commission from drivers on every trip.
After the first six months on the platform for cabbies who join before 30 April 2023. Passengers will get 15 per cent off their first trip of up to £10.
Bolt hopes that the announcement could help improve relations between black cabbies and ride-hailing services, which has long been strained.
In 2019, drivers launched a legal challenge against Uber, arguing that the firm’s licence to operate in London was granted by a ‘biased judge’. Major protests have been held by black cab drivers in the capital over the last 10 years.
Bolt told Morning Wire they had conducted interviews and research with black cab drivers to find out what works best.
The firm launched in London in 2019 and currently operates in19 other UK cities.