Shell go into reverse over attempts to break into London's private hire market

Energy giant to scale back FarePilot project

Anglo-Dutch oil giants Shell, who threw their hat into the private hire ring by bidding for a minicab operator’s licence in London nearly 2 years ago have done an "about-face" and scaled back the project. 

In January 2018, TaxiPoint reported that FarePilot, which is owned by Shell, was being used to advise private hire drivers where hotspots may lurk and where they are more likely to pick up fares whilst working for other operators in the market. 

Shell, who have jointly invested over £7mn into the project with Boston Consulting, have now reversed their decision to proceed with the project after determining that it isn't an economically viable entity.

The decision was made after Boston Consulting withdrew from the project.

FarePilot has seen 19 employees released, but the app will still continue to operate, however it will not be developed into a commercial venture.

The app has had nearly 200,000 downloads since its launch according to This is Money. Image Source: Pixabay