Route business: how to open a route taxi. Minibus taxi business plan

* The calculations use average data for Russia

from 650,000 ₽ Starting investments

100,000 - 250,000 ₽ Revenue

60,000 - 150,000 ₽ Net profit

11 months Payback period

Minibus taxis are one of the most profitable and liquid types of auto business. However, launching it comes with many challenges that aspiring entrepreneurs need to keep in mind.

In most Russian cities, normal bus service is not developed. In the cold, people are forced to stand at bus stops for half an hour, an hour, or even longer. You have to choose one of two evils: either wait a long time for a single, but cheap bus, or quickly get to the place by an expensive taxi. Minibuses offer a third option: fast and inexpensive. In recent years, minibus taxis in many Russian cities have become almost the main mode of transport, in some places displacing large public transport. They run more frequently than buses, they are more maneuverable, they stop at stops on demand, and the cabin conditions are often more comfortable.

The shortcomings of urban public transport systems and the growing demand for comfortable transportation from the population make the minibus business very promising for small businesses. You can open your own small enterprise even if you do not have your own vehicle fleet and equipment for servicing vehicles. When operating one minibus, an entrepreneur can count on profits 3-5 times higher than average salaries. It is not for nothing that passenger transportation is called one of the most profitable and liquid types of auto business, which attracts with its passive and easy income.

But, as you know, free cheese only comes in a mousetrap. In the minibus business, not everything is as smooth and sweet as many people think from the outside. Therefore, before making plans about how many thousand rubles a day a minibus will bring you, we advise you to carefully familiarize yourself with the market in your region, analyze the competitive environment and communicate with people working in this field. It is worth keeping in mind that in some cities of the country minibuses are prohibited or serious restrictions are imposed on their activities. After such a market analysis has been carried out, a clearer picture will form in your head regarding the legal status and structure of the enterprise. The route business is possible in many variations. You can acquire your own fleet of vehicles or work without it, provide exclusively passenger transportation services, or provide other services (dispatching, maintenance, etc.). Most often, such a business is started either with budget buses or by attracting drivers with their own cars.

What types of minibuses are there in Russia?

You may have heard that there are different types of minibuses. Which, for example, may not have a strict connection to the route, and passengers in them may indicate new directions to the driver. So, consider that there are no such types of “minibuses without a route” or “taxi minibuses” in Russia. At least, the legal concept of “minibus taxi” does not exist. Since 2013, minibuses have been equated by law with public transport, that is, buses, trams and trolleybuses. This means that passengers and luggage are transported in minibuses on a regular basis and along a regular route. Such transportation is carried out on the basis of a public contract and is defined by law as “transportation by public transport.” In fact, this means that in Russia today there are two types of minibuses, which are:

• carry out transportation with passengers boarding and disembarking at stopping points along the regular transportation route;
• carry out transportation with boarding and disembarking of passengers in any place not prohibited by traffic regulations along the route of regular transportation.

In addition, according to the Charter of Road Transport and Urban Ground Electric Transport, there are 4 types of passenger transport routes:

1. Transportation in urban traffic. They are carried out within the boundaries of populated areas.
2. Suburban transportation. They are carried out between populated areas at a distance of up to 50 km inclusive between the borders of these populated areas.
3. Intercity transportation. They are carried out between populated areas at a distance of more than 50 km between the borders of these populated areas.
4. International transportation. They are carried out outside the territory of the Russian Federation or into the territory of the Russian Federation by crossing its border, including in transit through the territory of the country.

If we talk about the transportation of passengers and luggage in general, then three types of transportation are legally established in Russia: regular transportation, transportation by order and transportation by passenger taxis. And, as you already understand, the activities of minibuses fall into the first category. So the more correct name for this type of transport would not be “minibus”, but “minibus” or “low-capacity bus”. In addition, a minibus usually does not mean municipal transport, but private transport, operating only from proceeds from ticket sales.

What do you need to open your own minibus?

In Russia, the operation of minibuses, like all other public transport, is regulated by Federal Law No. 220-FZ “On the organization of regular transportation of passengers and luggage by road...” dated July 13, 2015 and the Charter of Road Transport and Urban Ground Transport.

Thus, today's legal norms require all carriers to use a special parking lot for parking vehicles, and to transport passengers in the amount of more than 8 people, it is necessary to have a license, a route map or a certificate for the right to transport passengers, issued by an authorized body of the municipal, regional or regional authorities.

One of the main government documents for passenger road transport is a license. The presence of this document indicates that the carrier can ensure the complete safety of passengers, that its services comply with established norms and standards, and that its drivers have the necessary experience. You can obtain a license if you have your own transport or rented one. To obtain a license for passenger transportation, you need to collect an impressive package of documents and submit them to the territorial body of Rostransnadzor. It should be borne in mind that separate licenses are issued for each of the four types of transportation (urban, intercity, suburban and international).

The list of documents required to obtain a license to transport passengers includes:

• certificate of registration of a legal entity;
• an application for obtaining a license, filled out in a certain form, which must indicate the type of transportation;
• documents confirming the person’s tax registration;
• copies of documents regulated by the “Licensing Regulations”;
• copies of the constituent documents of the enterprise, certified by a notary.

And these are just, let’s say, the main documents. You will also need documents from drivers that confirm their work experience (work book) and ability to drive vehicles (medical certificate for permission to drive vehicles), information about the premises in which maintenance and repair of vehicles is carried out, namely:

• copies of documents confirming the availability of specially equipped premises (extract from the Unified State Register or agreement);
• Declaration of availability of private parking;
• documents for technical equipment in the premises;
• certificates or other documents confirming the premises’ compliance with generally accepted standards.

As additional documents, you will need an agreement for the implementation of a medical pre-trip examination of drivers, documents on the availability of the necessary transport, a vehicle registration certificate, a diagnostic card or a coupon for a technical inspection and the conclusion of a specialist from the transport commission.

The license is issued within 30-45 days after submitting the application. Before submitting documents, you must pay a state fee in the amount of 7,500 rubles. If before 2011 licenses were issued for 5 years, now they are issued indefinitely. Before collecting documents, be sure to check the list on the official portal of the Federal Service for Supervision of Transport, as requirements may change. Both individual entrepreneurs and organizations can obtain a license to transport passengers. For activities without a license, individual entrepreneurs face a fine of 100 thousand rubles, organizations - 400 thousand rubles. Moreover, if the violation is repeated, the violator will face not only a fine, but also confiscation of the vehicle.

License for passenger transportation

Intercity, suburban and urban transportation of more than eight people is an activity for which a license must be issued. The capacity of a bus is determined by its technical characteristics. It is issued by the Rostransnadzor authorities, and can be obtained by both a legal entity and an individual entrepreneur.

An application for a license is submitted to the Office of State Road Supervision (UGADN).

List of documents that must be attached to the application:

1. Documents on registration of individual entrepreneurs and choice of taxation system.
2. Transport documents, certificates from the traffic police.
3. Vehicle insurance policy, copy of technical inspection.
4. Documents on the inclusion of transport in the Register of Categorized Objects and the assignment of a category to it.
5. Declaration of parking availability or rental.
6. Papers confirming the availability of premises for repair and maintenance of machines.
7. Work records, medical examination, driver's licenses of employees.
8. Documents on equipping vehicles with satellite navigation systems.
9. Availability of a full-time medical worker to conduct routine examinations of personnel.

How to put a minibus on a route

One of the stumbling blocks in the passenger transportation business is the choice and coordination of the route. The fact is that no one will simply allow a novice entrepreneur to transport passengers wherever he wants. In large cities, it is almost impossible to wedge into existing routes; the market there has long been divided. Vacant niches remain only in small settlements, and they are quite rare. The situation there varies. For example, you can enter the market if the local bus fleet is very outdated and needs to be replaced, and the entrepreneur is ready to put new buses on the route. To find out if it is possible to get a route in a particular city, you need to contact the local department of transport or transport companies servicing the routes and enter into an agreement with them to access these routes.

It is quite problematic to open new routes. They are developed by the Ministry of Transport of the region together with local governments, and a whole bunch of papers are collected for their approval, including calculations of economic feasibility, organizational section, technological calculations, and so on. The choice of carrier is carried out through tenders held by local administrations. It is almost impossible to win a tender without connections, especially when it comes to profitable routes.

To find out all the features of obtaining a permit for a route and entering a given business in general, it is best for an entrepreneur to become familiar with its components from the inside in advance: namely, communicate with the owners and drivers of buses and other knowledgeable people. It is quite likely that there may be no legal ways to obtain a route. And then a newcomer may be required to pay an impressive amount of up to several hundred thousand rubles. Moreover, the hope that a “one-time contribution” will solve all matters may also be destroyed. It is no secret that those organizations that have managed to enter this business have to regularly maintain the favor of inspection bodies.

Add/edit route

Last revision: 09.29.2020

1. Add a new route

   1.1 Go to the “Routes Directory”
   and make sure you have selected the desired city. If your city is not in the database, open the city selection window, enter the name in the search bar and click the “Add routes in a new city X” button. After 2 days, your city will be created and all relevant routes will be transferred to its directory.

2. 1.2 If the route number does not exist in the directory, click the “Add new route”
   .
3. 1.3 On the page that opens, fill in the text description of the route, following the format
4. 1.4 Next, go to the “Flights” tab and add stops and schedules for direct, return and other flights
   Flight - a path between the initial and final stops, made along a specific route and according to a specific schedule

   (if there is):

   1.4.1 Find the starting stop and include it in the route. If there is no stop, create one in the right place,
5. 1.4.2 Consistently include stops in your route
6. 1.4.3 If a stop was included in the route by mistake, it can be excluded
7. 1.4.4 If the trajectory between two stops was built with errors, this can be corrected using various modes for constructing the trajectory
8. 1.4.5 Add a schedule for a flight
9. 1.5 Check the entered data and click the “Submit for moderation”
   . You can view a list of your edits in your user profile.

Ready! Your edit is now up for voting. And if they vote for her, she will appear in the directory.

1. Edit route

   2.1 Go to the route page where you need to add information or correct errors, and click the “Edit”

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2. 2.2 All other points coincide with the instructions for adding a new route (see above)
3. 2.3 After submitting for moderation, you will see your edit with visible changes. You can edit your edit while it is being voted on. The votes are then reset to zero.
4. 2.4 If an edit receives 10 “For” votes, then the edit is recorded in the directory; if 10 “Against” votes, it is cancelled. Before voting ends, check for comments in the comments - perhaps the community will point out errors

1. Other rules for editing routes

   3.1 If there are duplicates (with the same numbers) in the city directory, the route with a later ID must be deleted.

2. 3.2 It is prohibited to edit inactive routes, except
   for editing the location and name of stops, as well as text fields: Route type, Cities, Route, Color, Transport class
3. 3.3 It is allowed to add to the site routes that are irregular, one-day, custom, shuttles (service, transport to shopping centers, business centers), school, etc.
4. 3.4 It is allowed to add routes to the site that once worked, but were closed and are not currently operational.
5. 3.5 Routes that were once added to the site when plans for their launch were announced, but were never launched, are not removed from the site.
6. 3.6 It is allowed to add and edit routes, the launch or changes of which were announced in advance on the official websites of carriers or in the media.
7. 3.7 If a route changes status to inactive, it is prohibited to clear text fields or delete stops, except in situations where the data is brought up to date at the time the route is closed.
8. 3.8 The route may only include official stops at which vehicles are required to stop. The fact that transport has stopped in other places can be reflected in the “Features” field.
9. 3.9 It is prohibited to create duplicates of existing stops for the sake of renaming or moving.
10. 3.10 If the name of bus stations, railway stations and stations designed for intercity and suburban traffic does not contain the name of the city, the name should be indicated in the City (Stop) format. For example: Moscow (Southern bus station), Voronezh (Railway Station)

Which car to choose for a minibus

Both carriers and passengers agree that the traditional Gazelle as a route taxi has already become obsolete. These cars are not popular among people because of their uncomfortable dimensions and too low ceilings. The capacity of a regular route Gazelle is 8 passenger seats, which is not very pleasing for carriers interested in the greatest financial return for their workhorses. On the other hand, Gazelle remains the most budget option for starting a business. A used car before 2010 can be purchased in the range of 40-170 thousand rubles, a car from 2011-2013. will cost 210-350 thousand rubles, and newer Gazelles can be purchased for 400-890 thousand rubles. A new Gazelle will cost around 1 million rubles.

More spacious, elongated “Gazelles” with 12 seats will cost around 1-1.3 million rubles. But with that kind of money, an entrepreneur has much more choice. For example, you can buy a good used minibus from one of the foreign brands, or add a couple of hundred thousand and buy a new “Gazelle Next” with a capacity of 18 people. 18 passenger seats (in various modifications up to 20-22 seats) is the most common capacity of minibuses today. In this class you can find about a dozen options, the most popular of which are the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Classic, Ford Transit, Volkswagen Crafter, Iveco Daily, Citroen Jumper, Peugeot Boxer, GAZ Next and Hyundai County minibuses. Moreover, the latter has not been assembled in Russia since 2014, as well as supplies from South Korea have been stopped, so you can only purchase a used version.

Prices for the most popular minibuses for minibuses with 18-22 seats*

*according to Avto.ru website as of January 25, 2018

There is no consensus on which model is definitely better and more reliable. Of course, buying a used car as a minibus is always a risk, so if you have limited financial resources, you should use leasing services. For legal entities and individual entrepreneurs, leasing is an excellent opportunity not only to reduce the threshold for entering a business, but also to save in the process of tax payments, since payments under leasing contracts can be taken into account in the form of current costs attributed to the cost price.

What are the requirements for minibus drivers?

The carrier's staff can only be staffed by qualified drivers with category “D” licenses. However, driving experience in this category should not be less than 3 years. You also need to have a medical certificate confirming your permission to drive transport. The number of suitable candidates is limited, therefore, private owners often sin and hire unprofessional drivers or employees fired for misconduct from municipal transport companies.

The driver of the minibus is obliged to follow the instructions of the dispatch personnel, follow the schedule along the route, know the stopping places, dangerous sections of the road, schemes for avoiding repair areas, and navigate the location of medical institutions, gas stations and service points.

As for salaries for minibus drivers, the salary system is not used in practice by entrepreneurs. In fact, drivers work according to a set rate, which may vary on weekdays and weekends, and if there is a salary, it is minimal. In this case, the driver’s revenue includes the amount in excess of the required norm. The downside of this scheme is that in pursuit of revenue, following the route turns into a battle for passengers with other minibuses, with cutting off, mutual insults, idling at stops and racing at speed to the next stop. As a result, a largely vicious system emerges: drivers think about passengers last, overwork massively, spending 14-16 hours in the cab, and if the “plan” is not paid, they may be deprived of bonuses or required to pay extra from personal funds. This is not to mention traffic violations, accidents, etc.

Often, the scheme for building a business on minibuses is such that the owner of the minibus is the driver himself, who is obliged to be responsible for washing and refueling, perform minor maintenance, including changing pads, oil, light bulbs and filters, as well as carry out major repairs and provide parking in a personal garage. He, of course, spends the minimum on everything, since he already gives half of the proceeds to the business owner. As a result, passengers receive “broken-down” minibuses. Unfortunately, most often the labor relations between drivers and owners of transportation companies leave much to be desired and are more like “collecting tribute.” The turnover rate in this business is enormous, and human greed is, of course, at the root of most of the problems. Another option, which more conscientious carriers choose, is to remove the bus driver from all other duties except driving the buses provided by the company. In this case, the costs of gasoline, maintenance, washing and repairs remain with the company. Our country is in no hurry to resolve the issue of transparency of payments in public transport. The problem could be solved by the introduction of a cashless payment system with the installation of validators, but such a measure is effective only if it brings real benefits to passengers and applies to all types of urban transport. One way or another, an entrepreneur still needs to know the daily revenue plan, no matter what payment system he introduces. The best option would be to personally ride with the driver along the route as a conductor and calculate your income on different days of the week.

Returning to the requirements for drivers, we should not forget about their human qualities. Drivers should not only not drive recklessly, they should be able to get along with people. It's no secret that working in a minibus is a rather nervous and exhausting job. The ability to control oneself is extremely important here, because almost every day you have to deal with inadequate passengers, violent ones, arguers, and so on.

Business relevance

At the moment, the policy of companies organizing tourist routes is such that the price tag for a standard excursion trip is calculated on the condition that the main buyer will be a consumer with an average income.
That is, the potential audience for such a business is massive. Moreover, school excursions are extremely common in our country, which provide companies cooperating with educational institutions with constant wholesale demand. And parents themselves are never against a child’s trip with the class, even to another city, because this is not an expensive event and has a positive effect on the formation of children. Another popular channel for receiving applications has become the fashion for excursion holidays for retirees, which came to us from the West. The form is gradually gaining momentum and developing, predicting good performance for travel companies.

Thus, if you are already the owner of a travel agency, then adding popular tourist bus routes to your services will be a must in the further development of your organization. This will both expand the range of offers and increase the audience, and, accordingly, profits. To begin with, these could be tours around the territory of the Russian Federation, and with further expansion and the necessary capital investments, foreign tour trips. But we will talk further about the case when the idea of ​​​​doing tourist buses is being implemented from scratch.

What are the requirements for servicing minibuses?

All vehicles must be serviced at a service station and inspected by a mechanic before each trip to work for any defects. Also, before the trip, drivers must be examined by a doctor and receive permission to perform their duties. If there is no medical worker on staff, then you will need to enter into an agreement with one of the medical institutions to provide the appropriate services.

Minibuses must have vehicle license cards. It is also impossible to do without equipping GLONASS satellite monitoring devices and tachographs. Vehicles must be technically sound, and the type of vehicle must correspond to the type of transportation.

The entrepreneur should also take care of where to leave the cars during non-working hours and how the cars will be maintained: in-house or by a third party. To be in touch with your drivers, an office and the adjacent territory of the vehicle fleet are equipped. Rent can become a significant expense, so it is advisable to find a place on the outskirts of the city.

Minibus taxi service requirements

It is not at all difficult to collect a list of necessary documents to obtain a license. But the list of requirements includes several more items:

1. Compliance with road safety laws.
2. Compliance with the Traffic Regulations and Rules for the Transportation of Passengers.

The implementation of these requirements is monitored by traffic police and Rostransnadzor employees.

License requirements include:

1. Pre-trip monitoring of transport condition.
2. Preparation of waybills for each car.
3. Medical examination of drivers before departure.
4. Civil liability insurance for the vehicle owner.
5. Equipment of transport with technical means of control.

How much does it cost to open a minibus business?

There is no clear answer to the question of how much it costs to open a minibus taxi business. It all depends on the region in which you plan to start, whether or not you plan to purchase a vehicle fleet, and whether other services will be provided. Some investment guidelines can be obtained from advertisements for the sale of a ready-made business. A ready-made business with all the documentation, a minibus and drivers who agree to work for the new owner will cost from 650 to 1350 thousand rubles. The option of purchasing an existing business may be attractive because the entrepreneur will be freed from many initial bureaucratic obstacles and will be able to count on a certain flow of clients. In this case, the buyer will only have to find out exactly why the owner is selling his business. During the main period, the expenses of a business may include parking rental, wages, fuel costs, insurance, maintenance and repairs. Also, current costs may include a subscription fee for the route, payment for medical care, and taxes.

How much do minibus taxis earn?

Finally, we come to the most interesting question. Namely, to the question of how much minibus taxis earn. On average, a route with one minibus in the fleet brings in about 85-90 thousand rubles per month. The range of net profit varies from 60 to 150 thousand rubles per month with a turnover of 100 to 250 thousand rubles. Accordingly, three minibuses can bring profit from 180 to 450 thousand rubles.

The amount of income, in addition to current costs, greatly depends on the specific route, the seasonal behavior of passengers and their weekly routine. Of course, the most profitable business is one that earns money on weekdays, that is, along the “work-to-home” route. Nobody focuses on weekends and transportation of summer residents. On weekends, revenue and net profit indicators may decrease by 2-3 times compared to weekdays.

You can increase profits by placing advertising inside or outside minibuses. Printed products are most often used in the cabin: leaflets, banners, booklets, which are placed in places in full view of passengers, for example, on the backs of seats. A special film with a pattern is applied to the body of the bus. The design is carried out by advertising agency employees.

Purchase of cars and necessary equipment

After completing registration, renting premises and hiring staff, you need to move on to purchasing vehicles. First of all, the choice of vehicle will be influenced by which direction of passenger transportation you are on . Cars will become the main asset on which work efficiency will depend.

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Here we will consider the most common type - urban transportation.

Today there are several ways to organize a vehicle fleet:

• Hiring drivers with cars . The easiest option, which has many limitations. First of all, in this situation the entrepreneur receives much less profit. Secondly, minibus owners can voluntarily go to another route. The third pitfall will be difficulties in monitoring personnel. If conflicts arise with drivers, you will not be able to manipulate them, since all the “trump cards” will be in their hands.
• Purchasing vehicles.

Options for creating your own park

There are also several possibilities here:

• Buying new cars . If an entrepreneur has enough funds to purchase cars, then this will be the best and most profitable method of creating his own fleet. In this case, the entrepreneur will be the “true owner” of the business, he will personally draw up routes, hire and replace personnel without damaging the business.

• Purchasing a used car . Along with the advantages, the option also has disadvantages. It is worth remembering that the service life of a minibus purchased in this way should not exceed 3 years. Otherwise, constant problems with repairs will reduce the company's profits.

• Leasing of new cars . New cars can be purchased on lease. This is an advanced form of loan-lease, at the end of which the vehicle can remain at the disposal of the company.

Entrepreneurs can create their fleet solely by leasing fixed assets, but in this case, each machine will have to generate sufficient profit per month to pay for itself.

Although leasing purchases are accompanied by overpayments in the form of interest, by properly organizing your business you can create a huge and profitable fleet of vehicles .

Selection of equipment

Today, transport companies have a huge selection of minibuses available for purchase .

The most profitable in terms of price-quality will be the purchase of domestic GAZelle minibuses :

• The machines are very stable in operation and in the first 3 years of operation the maintenance costs will be low.
• On average, the cost of spare parts for one car will be 1000 rubles per month.

These minibuses consume a lot of fuel, but buying other equipment will be an unjustified luxury . Standard equipment for Gazelle minibuses costs around 700,000 rubles.

According to the new decree of the Russian government, every “route” transport engaged in passenger transportation must be equipped with the GLONASS system and have a tachograph.

When drawing up a budget, it is worth taking into account additional costs for equipment, which will cost approximately 70,000 rubles per 1 car .