Night taxis in Lausanne: what changes after 10 p.m.

What does not change: the price

Start with what matters most. We have no night rate. A ride at 2 a.m. costs exactly what the same ride costs at 2 p.m. No multiplier, no weekend surcharge, no increase because three hundred people leave the same concert at once.

That is the sharpest difference from surge-pricing platforms. Their price rises mechanically when demand outstrips supply — that is, Saturday night, the end of a match, New Year's Eve, or the moment it rains hard. A journey costing twenty-five francs on a Tuesday afternoon can cost sixty at 3 a.m. With us, it costs twenty-five.

The calculation is identical at any hour, and it is shown before you confirm.

When public transport stops

The metro, buses and regional trains stop late in the evening, earlier on weekdays than at weekends, and start again early in the morning. Weekend night lines do not cover the whole canton, and their frequency bears no relation to daytime service.

We do not print timetables here: they change every year and belong to tl and SBB, not to us. Check your line's last departure on the operator's site on the evening itself — it is the only source that is right.

What we can guarantee: our cars run all night, all year, including 24 and 31 December and public holidays. Dispatch answers on 021 624 00 00 around the clock, and a human picks up.

Book ahead, or call on the spot?

Both work, but they serve different situations.

Calling on the spot suits you when you are already outside and want to leave now. An available car is assigned, you get a tracking link, and you watch the taxi approach on a map.

Booking ahead is clearly better in four cases: the end of a concert or match, leaving a club between 2 and 4 a.m., New Year's Eve, and very early airport departures. Those are the four moments when everyone wants a car at the same instant. A booking commits a named car at a stated time — it cannot be taken by someone else while you find your coat.

For a night out, the useful habit is to book the return at the same time as the outward trip. It is simpler, it is cheaper per journey, and you no longer have to think about it at 3 a.m.

Getting home from the suburbs

At night the problem is not leaving Lausanne: it is coming back, or going out to the surrounding towns.

We serve the whole agglomeration at any hour: Prilly, Renens, Crissier, Ecublens, Chavannes, Bussigny, Pully, Paudex, Lutry, Épalinges, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Cheseaux, Romanel, Belmont and the villages above. Over these distances the price stays modest — a few one-way examples: CHF 36 for six kilometres, CHF 55 for ten, CHF 80 for fifteen.

Further along the lake — Morges, Vevey, Montreux, Nyon, Yverdon — the night return is a large part of what we do, especially after Riviera concerts and evenings at the casino. The price is quoted in advance, and it is the same as a daytime journey.

Safety, concretely

Going home alone at 3 a.m. is not a trivial situation. Here is what we put against it, without marketing.

• An identified driver. All our drivers hold the cantonal taxi licence, issued by the Vaud trade police after a criminal-record and driving-history check. It is not a self-declaration: it is a controlled, renewed document.
• The name, plate and model of the car are texted to you before arrival. You know which car you are getting into.
• A live tracking link comes with every ride. It is shareable: send it to someone close and they will see the car move on the map with the expected arrival time.
• An inspected vehicle. Our cars pass the periodic roadworthiness test and the taximeter check, and we track their due dates in our own system.
• A human dispatch you can reach. At any hour, 021 624 00 00 is answered by a person who can see where your car is.

The nights to book ahead for

From experience, the same dates always saturate:

• 31 December, between midnight and 4 a.m. — by far the tightest night of the year;
• Montreux Jazz evenings and the big Riviera concerts;
• matches and major events at the Vaudoise aréna or La Pontaise;
• Fridays and Saturdays between 2 and 4 a.m., as the Flon venues close;
• the eve of school holidays at dawn, for departure flights.

On those slots, a booking made the day before beats a call on the night. That is not a sales trick: the number of cars on the road is simply finite.

Paying at night

Cash, card and TWINT work in every car, at any hour. You do not need to find a cash machine before heading home.

If you left something in the car — which happens more at night than by day — call dispatch: every ride is recorded with its vehicle and driver, which makes finding a lost item quick.