According to the report of the general director of the Transflot corporate and family transfer service, Viktor Fedosyuk, taxi drivers in Kyiv began to leave for orders less often due to serious concerns about the possibility of mobilization.
After the start of a full-scale war, the number of drivers in his company decreased by about 80% and they are not yet able to restore their number. Sometimes Transflot engages third-party private carriers. But now it has become more difficult, says Fedosyuk.
"It is precisely because drivers try to leave less often. The reason is the fear of mobilisation," the CEO of Transflot is confident.
According to Fedosyuk, the shortage of drivers became more noticeable after May 18, when the law on mobilization came into force. Although there should be more free cars in the summer season due to holidays and vacations, it is not felt yet, says the entrepreneur. He adds that it is more difficult to find a driver during the day, because many carriers work either until eight in the morning or during the evening rush hour, after nine.
This information is indirectly confirmed by the data of the transport modeling company "Bespalov LAB", which is the official distributor in Ukraine of the products of the developer of GPS technologies TomTom. There they reported a decrease in traffic in four Ukrainian cities in the working week of May 20-24 by 1-8% compared to the week of May 13-17.
"I predict that after July 16, the situation will worsen for about two weeks. Only people younger than 25 or older than 60 will drive," Fedosyuk believes.
Transflot also faced employee mobilization during work. "The driver was standing next to the car, a bus pulled up and took it to the VLK," the entrepreneur says. Transflot is currently looking for employees under the age of 25.
Taximer, a taxi price comparison platform, also reported a decrease in the number of taxi drivers in Kyiv.
The Uklon company did not feel the impact of the law on mobilization on the taxi market. According to their data, after May 18 "there were slight fluctuations in the activity of partners." But within a week, the indicators returned to normal.
