Brussels shared taxi service Collecto to resume after three-year break

Brussels' late-night collective taxi service, Collecto, will resume operations next month, three years after it was halted during the first coronavirus shutdown.

The taxi sharing scheme, which will run every night from 23.00 to 6.00, allows users to order a taxi from one of 200 bus stops around the Brussels region and have a ride home for a flat fee of €6.

Taxi operator Taxis Verts won a five-year contract from Brussels Mobility to run the Collecto service in late 2019.

Just a few months later, the coronavirus shutdown forced the closure of Brussels bars and nightclubs, and the service was no longer needed.

When the city's nightlife reopened, Collecto remained absent from the streets, as Taxis Verts reportedly sought to renegotiate the terms of its contract to provide the service.

According to La Capitale, the taxi firm has held productive negotiations with the cabinet of Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort and a compromise appears to have been struck.

A spokesperson for Vervoort confirmed the news to Bruzz, adding: "We are in the final phase of the negotiations. The service will be available again by the end of the first quarter of 2023."