In summer, many experiential ride services cool off the streets. For example, electric bicycle taxis are starting their summer season. The company in the field has expanded to 14 cities in a few years.
A variety of ride services are available for travelers abroad, from bicycle taxis to river boat rides and horse-drawn oxcarts.
– We have wanted to attack the field of nonsense. Especially during the summer holidays, people are looking for experiences, he says.
After the winter, electric bicycle taxis have returned to the streets, for example, in Savonlinna and Jyväskylä. In Mikkeli, take a rickshaw taxi to get there later in May, as long as the weather warms up.
Keihänen himself runs the company Biketaxi, which was founded in Kuopio in 2016.
At the turn of the decade, the operation expanded to Jyväskylä, and since then the operation has grown rapidly. Now the company has bicycle taxis in a total of 14 locations.
Today, the company operates on the franchising principle, meaning independent entrepreneurs in different cities operate under the brand.
Bike taxis are in high demand, especially in Kuopio and big cities like Helsinki, Tampere and Turku. On the other hand, rides can also be ordered in smaller tourist towns like Savonlinna, for example.
Rides are sold in the summer, advertising space in the winter
Summer is the peak season for bike taxis, but the bike taxi entrepreneur doesn’t rest on his laurels even in winter. In addition to customer rides, bike taxis also sell advertising space.
– The development of the chain takes place during the winter season. Starting in the fall, we will start looking for partners who want to advertise their own company on our rickshaws, says entrepreneur Miika Keihänen.
Biketaxi is known to be the only bicycle taxi company in Finland that operates nationwide.
Other bike taxi companies also operate locally in different towns.
This year, Biketaxi employs 150 seasonal workers. There are currently 125 bike taxis in the company. The company’s goal is to break the 200,000 ride limit this summer.