- Stigma and fuel crisis hamper female participation in taxi services
By Shailendree Wickrama Adittiya
To those who can afford it, the safety and comfort of a taxi or cab is worth it, especially in comparison to public transport, where, according to the UNFPA, 90% of women have been subjected to sexual harassment in Sri Lanka. However, male drivers can also pose safety concerns, which is why taxi-hailing services have been taking efforts to get on board more female drivers.
According to a policy brief on women and ride-hailing in Sri Lanka, compiled by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in partnership with Australian Aid and PickMe, riders generally agree that women drivers perform as well or better than men in terms of safety, courtesy, and comfort.
While noting that there is momentum for change, however, the policy brief highlighted that women remain significantly underrepresented as drivers.
In order to better understand how female-driven taxi services are received in Sri Lanka, Brunch reached out to PickMe Founder/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jiffry Zulfer, who said there has been an enormous growth and considerable participation of women drivers on PickMe as well as similar platforms, especially for part-time options.
However, he added, the fuel crisis has posed certain issues – women cannot stay in long queues as they may have to look after their children or take care of other responsibilities, which has resulted in a drop in female participation in the sector.
“We are hoping it will change. If the fuel lines don’t increase, we don’t see a problem. But if they increase, women, unlike men, cannot stay in line for a long time,” Zulfer said.
He added that customers prefer the experience of having a female driver. Although customers cannot opt for a female driver on the app, Zulfer said: “We have preferences that we work on so that we provide both parties a safe experience.”
When asked about giving riders the option of choosing female drivers, he said they are currently evaluating the possibility. “There is a constraint on liquidity. You need to have a lot of women to be driving,” Zulfer added.
The Morning Brunch also reached out to Pink Drives, which is a service for women and children with only female drivers. According to Pink Drives CEO Shohan Kulasuriya, customer demand for their service is very high.
They currently have a fleet of 50 cabs, with at least 20 female drivers actively moving in and around Colombo. Most drivers are on a part-time basis, giving them quite a lot of flexibility, which is welcome. The drivers can be online when convenient to them, and riders can book a ride in advance through the Pink Drives hotline or website.
“Apart from regular day-to-day hires, we do cater to fixed hires as well. For example, if a lady wants to travel daily to office or any other matter, or wants to have their child taken to school on a daily basis, we do provide that service as well,” Kulasuriya said.
At the moment, the service only operates in Colombo, but they plan on launching in major cities like Galle, Kandy, Jaffna, and Matara by the end of the year. This will give more women access to a taxi service driven exclusively by women.
According to Kulasuriya, one of the key challenges they face is due to the stigma surrounding women drivers. “Even though there are several lady drivers in society, they are not willing to be part of these services because of social stigma and the belief that taxi driving is not for women,” he said.
Many women are discouraged by their family members. “Women would like to drive as part of this service, but at the last mile there are situations where they step back saying their family doesn’t like it,” Kulasuriya said.
In order to address this, Pink Drives invites the potential driver’s immediate family members to join the one-on-one interview sessions they hold. Here, they can get a better idea of the kind of service the female drivers will be carrying out.
Another challenge has been the fuel crisis in the country. Given shortages and time wasted in fuel lines, many are hesitant to join taxi services, and this especially applies to women. However, Kulasuriya was confident that things would improve once the situation settles.
Despite these challenges, he said, 10-15 women have joined the service in the past couple of months.
Pink Drives will also be introducing a parcel delivery service, hopefully by mid-month, and already have 15 female drivers on board. The delivery service will be carried out on motorbikes. The decision to introduce this service came about after Pink Drives received several requests to expand their fleet to include motorcycles and three-wheelers.
“Since there are many who have requested this, we are introducing a bike service; not for passenger transport but for delivery services. This is so we can give another opportunity to a lady who has a bike to get an additional income,” Kulasuriya said.
“We are thinking beyond taxi services, because we need to empower more women and provide more opportunities for women to get involved. So we are partnering with travel agencies where we can provide a service for solo travellers or female travellers with kids,” he went on to say, explaining that Pink Drives has already partnered with one travel agency and plans on expanding their network. This will also allow their female drivers to also be a part of the travel and tourism industry.
