The taxi is dead, long live the taxi!
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Berlin-Wedding, 24 September 2026
Drawing on nearly 150 years’ experience behind the wheel of Berlin taxis, we have drafted this manifesto for the incoming Berlin Senate at the 3rd Taxi Film Festival 2026. It sets out the key problems facing the Berlin taxi industry and puts forward proposals for their resolution.
A poverty-proof income
The Berlin Senate must create the conditions under which a poverty-proof income can be earned by taxi drivers. As a first step, the statutory minimum wage must be enforced in taxi and hire car companies.
Combating organised crime
Criminal gangs have taken over a large number of taxi firms and dominate the hire car industry. Therefore, the Trade Inspectorate, the police and – via a Bundesrat initiative – the customs authorities must be resourced in such a way that, on average, no single official is responsible for monitoring more than 100 firms. Only in this way can the industry and its workers be effectively protected.
Minimum fares and the obligation to return
Minimum fares and the obligation for hire cars to return to their company headquarters must be enforced on the streets on a daily basis. To this end, the police must be authorised by the Senate.
Quality, professional competence and job profile
The Senate should introduce a compulsory professional competence examination for taxis and hire cars. Customers must only be transported by drivers who have mastered the sector-specific rules and the basic principles of the hospitality industry.
The Senate, together with trade unions and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), should develop a job profile and a training programme for the carriage of passengers in taxis and hire cars.
Taxi ranks
Taxi drivers and passengers need good taxi ranks. Drivers need access to toilets and seating outside their vehicles, as well as sufficient distance from moving traffic. Berliners should be able to board a taxi at all railway stations and major hotels, as well as at taxi ranks at intervals of at least 500 metres. This will also enhance safety for everyone.
Integration into public transport and collective agreements
Taxis must be structurally integrated into the publicly operated public transport system, and fares wages be aligned with those of the BVG and S-Bahn.
The transport transition
For the transport transition to succeed in creating a liveable city, the number of motor vehicles in the city must be reduced. This requires good taxis. To this end, the Berlin Senate should support the procurement of 250 taxis with special equipment for wheelchairs.
Smart City, Transparency and Open Data
The real-time recording of revenue and movement data for taxis and hire cars should be implemented, and the data should be made available as open data via API wherever possible. This combats exploitation and wage fraud and enables the availability of taxis to be managed.
Reports on economic viability and monitoring periods
The Senate must commission annual studies into the economic viability of the taxi industry and regulate the number of taxis in such a way that poverty-proof wages become a reality.
In a nutshell
The Senate must no longer leave Berlin’s taxi drivers to fend for themselves.
Postscript
There are many other problems and areas requiring attention, such as passenger pick-up at BER Airport. We have limited ourselves to issues that can be resolved directly through decisions by the Berlin Senate.
Contact
Telephone +49 176 96726984
info@taxifilmfest.de
