At the initiative of Mayor Juhana Vartiainen, the City of Helsinki initiated preparations to resolve the issues concerning the Asema-aukio Plaza taxi rank in late 2023. At that time, the situation was deemed unsustainable for the residents, tourists, as well as taxi service providers, serving to erode both trust in the taxi service industry and the customers’ sense of security. The Mayor has set later winter 2024 as a deadline for the resolution. The Urban Environment Division has prepared a solution proposal that was discussed at the City Board’s Morning Session on 14 March.
The basis for the proposal is to subject access to the taxi rank to a tender by the taxi service providers .
Preparations for this call for tenders has begun and the aim is to have the new operating model for the Asema-aukio Plaza taxi rank active in summer 2024. However, there are some uncertainties regarding the schedule. The solution includes operating methods and solutions that the City has not used before. The models used at Helsinki Airport and the Port of Helsinki serve as good examples, but it is not possible to directly copy these models for taxi services on regular City streets.
This call for tenders is intended to be an open call, which will start in early summer.