Women and families who prefer a female taxi driver can now request one via Alijarah’s Pink Limousine service, which launched today.

The news comes amid complaints from some female residents in Qatar who say they feel threatened and intimidated by taxi drivers into paying higher fees, particularly at night.

The new female drivers are available only by booking through Alijarah, and each trip costs a flat fee of QR30, a company operator told Doha News. 

Alijarah is Qatar’s second taxi franchise operator, and runs a fleet of some 500 blue-roofed Karwa taxis under the banner of state-run transportation company Mowasalat.

Demand

Right now, the female driver service is in an experimental phase, the Alijarah operator said, adding that the company has also hired more than a dozen male drivers for its new limousine service. 

“The demand is there already,” he said, affirming that plans are in the works to expand Alijarah’s fleet of female taxi drivers. 

Last month, the company announced that it had hired and trained some 20 women from Kenya and Ghana to provide the service to Qatar’s minority female population. The drivers will ride white (not pink) Nissan Altimas equipped with GPS. 

Anyone interested in booking taxis or limousines with the company can call 8004488.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Penny Yi Wang