Travel managers have never had it easy. But in 2026, the pressure has intensified. According to GBTA’s July 2025 Business Travel Index, corporate travel spend was projected to hit $1.57 trillion globally in 2025, accelerating to $1.8 trillion by 2027 - yet one critical area remains stubbornly difficult to control: ground transport.
Only one in three business travellers actually use a managed transport provider. The rest? They're booking independently through their own preferred channels - ride-hailing apps, taxi ranks, and private hire services. That means the majority of ground transport journeys are happening outside your visibility, outside your control, and outside your duty of care framework.
For travel managers, this isn't just a policy compliance issue. It's a fundamental risk management problem.
The duty of care gap that's costing you
Business travellers are alone for 72% of their taxi journeys, with 57% traveling solo almost all the time. One in six has felt vulnerable when traveling by taxi. These aren't just statistics - they're your employees, often navigating unfamiliar cities, frequently exhausted from travel, regularly alone.
Crucially, 79% of trips happen outside standard working hours - those early morning airport runs, late evening client dinners, overnight connections when risk exposure is at its highest.
This is when your duty of care matters most, and this is exactly when most organisations have zero visibility.
When travellers book independently - which happens 53% of the time - you lose the audit trail. You can't track their journey in real-time. You can't verify the driver or vehicle. If something goes wrong, you often don't even know they're travelling until it's too late.
In 2026, being able to demonstrate duty of care through structured, visible and auditable processes is just as important as delivering it. Employees increasingly judge their employer by how well they're supported when travel goes wrong. Duty of care has moved beyond compliance to become a reputational differentiator.
The real reason travellers book outside policy
If managed transport offers safety, oversight and compliance, why are so many travellers still booking outside approved channels?
The answer isn't that they don't value safety or don't care about policy. They are just choosing ease and familiarity.
Six in ten business travellers now choose retail apps, bypassing vetted providers and corporate oversight entirely. Younger travellers, particularly Gen Z and Millennials, have grown up with mobile-first services and expect that level of convenience - but traditional channels haven't disappeared. 35% still use local private hire vehicles, 29% use taxi ranks, and 26% choose Hackney cabs.
The reality is that traveller experience drives behaviour. If your systems aren't easy to use, they simply won't be used. No amount of policy enforcement or compliance reminders will change that fundamental truth.
When done well, managed transport provides a seamless experience - with reliable service, strong safety protocols, and convenient app-based booking that matches what travellers already know.
Six non-negotiables for Travel Managers in 2026
1. Self-Service that actually serves the traveller
By 2026, travel managers need self-service that is intuitive under pressure, mobile-first and frictionless, while remaining seamlessly connected to human support.
This isn't about replacing people with technology. The winning model is self-service with a safety net. Systems that let travellers book in seconds but ensure someone answers the phone at 2am if something goes wrong.
91% of business travellers consider having round the clock journey support from a contact centre to be important. Nine out of ten. They want to know that if a driver doesn't show up, they're in an unsafe situation, or their flight is delayed and they need urgent rebooking, there's someone who will actually answer and actually help.
Other channels can't offer that - but it's exactly what travellers need during those 79% of journeys that happen outside standard business hours.
2. Full visibility and control across every journey
Travel managers increasingly recognise that they cannot protect travellers they cannot see. While flights and hotels are typically well managed, ground transport remains fragmented and often invisible.
Only around a third of business travellers actually book ground transport with a managed provider, yet travel managers estimate the figure to be far higher - around 53%. This discrepancy highlights how frequently policies are bypassed, weakening duty of care and reducing real-time oversight.
This behaviour isn't driven by a lack of capability within managed programs. Modern managed ground transport platforms offer mobile booking, live tracking and ease of use comparable to consumer apps, while also providing vetted drivers, 24/7 support and full organisational visibility. In many cases, travellers simply don't realise how seamless managed options have become.
The question for 2026 isn't whether managed transport can compete. It's whether your program makes it the obvious choice.
3. Cost control without traveller compromise
Budgets remain under pressure, but blunt cost-cutting is no longer acceptable. Poor traveller experiences lead to disengagement, non-compliance and hidden costs that ultimately undermine savings.
Managed ground transport programs help mitigate ever-changing cost pressures by providing centralised spend visibility, consistent pricing, simplified expense management and reduced reliance on higher-cost unmanaged bookings. Value in 2026 means preventing unnecessary costs, reducing manual administration, and balancing savings with traveller wellbeing.
Because remember: 82% of travellers feel their organisation prioritises safety - but 18% don't - and that gap represents real people who don't believe they're being protected when they travel for work.
4. Duty of care that Is visible and verifiable
One in six business travellers have felt vulnerable when travelling by taxi. For some, this might have been a momentary concern. For others, it was a genuine safety incident. Both matter.
The reality is that ground transport is often taken alone, frequently outside standard working hours, and regularly in unfamiliar locations. These are exactly the conditions where duty of care needs to be most robust - and where it's often most invisible.
Travel managers in 2026 need real-time traveller tracking, clear proof of contact and assistance, and measurable duty of care outcomes. This means vetted drivers with verified backgrounds. Monitored vehicles that meet safety standards. Live journey tracking that can be shared with colleagues or family and support that's available when risk is highest.
5. Personalised, safe and supported travel experiences
Ground transport is no longer a background logistical detail - it's an integral part of the overall business travel experience and an extension of workplace wellbeing. Travellers expect journeys that are safe, comfortable, punctual and stress-free, regardless of role or seniority.
This expectation is heightened for executives and senior leaders, whose travel must be frictionless and dependable, but it applies equally to employees travelling alone or outside normal working hours. Embedding safety into ground transport programs through real-time monitoring and proactive support reduces risk without requiring constant manager intervention.
The average business traveller makes 11 taxi journeys per month. That's 11 opportunities to either reinforce or undermine their confidence in your travel program. By combining personalised service with consistent oversight, organisations can ensure every journey supports both productivity and wellbeing.
6. Data-driven decisions and sustainability
Data is becoming the foundation of smarter decision-making. Travel managers want insight that enables them to forecast demand, optimise routes, improve compliance and manage supplier performance, rather than simply report on past activity.
Consolidated ground transport data creates a single, actionable view that enables organisations to identify inefficiencies and maintain duty of care standards. This visibility also supports sustainability goals, which are rapidly becoming core corporate metrics.
While sustainability has historically fallen behind cost and convenience in traveller decision-making - organisations are under increasing pressure to measure emissions and demonstrate progress. Managed ground transport programs make sustainability measurable and actionable without disrupting traveller experience or operational efficiency.
Making the safe choice the easy choice
At CMAC Group, we've built our managed transport solution around one core belief: the safe choice must be the easy choice.
Our platform delivers the app-based convenience your travellers expect - because 43% have told us ease of booking is critical. It prioritises punctuality for the 41% who can't afford to miss connections. It ensures live tracking, vehicle cleanliness and driver vetting for the travellers who've told us these factors influence decisions.
It wraps all of that into what travel managers need: complete journey visibility, vetted transport providers who meet rigorous safety standards, background-checked drivers, monitored vehicles, centralised account billing, and 24/7 contact centre support.
Every journey is traceable. Every payment is visible. Every traveller can access support. You get the data you need. Travellers get the experience they expect. Nobody has to compromise.
Because managed transport in 2026 isn't about forcing compliance through policy. It's about building systems good enough that travellers choose them voluntarily - and travel managers can sleep at night knowing their people are protected.
Organisations are recognising ground transport as a priority. Managed program adoption has risen from 37% in 2023 to 46% in 2025. More office managers, personal assistants, and travel coordinators are getting involved in booking - Personal Assistant bookings have doubled from 11% to 24%, while Travel Coordinator bookings have increased from 12% to 22%. This reflects a broader organisational push to strengthen oversight and ensure duty of care compliance.
Adoption alone isn't enough. The system has to work. It has to be as easy as opening an app. It has to deliver vehicles when and where travellers need them. It has to provide the cleanliness, safety, and reliability travellers expect - and it has to provide support when things don't go to plan.
Register now for early access to CMAC Group's Business Travel Report 2026 and discover how leading organisations are winning travellers back to managed programmes that are just as convenient - and significantly safer.
Contact CMAC Group to learn how our managed transport solution delivers the safety, support and seamless experience both your travellers and your organisation need.