Soon an all-female taxi fleet
View(s):If the project works according to plan, Sri Lanka will soon get its first all-female taxi service
The Market Development Facility (MDF), a multi-country private sector development program funded by the Australia Government, in an announcement last week said it was seeking proposals from transport service providers in Sri Lanka to establish a taxi fleet staffed primarily by women.
The fleet will look to capitalise on the growing number of taxi users in the country while providing safe transport solutions to a largely untapped market, MDF said, adding that taxi service providers have responded to similar challenges by offering transport services staffed by women drivers.
Case studies indicate that women passengers feel safer and are more confident venturing out with female drivers. MDF says the current transport service provider market in Sri Lanka is growing increasingly competitive with over 10 private players operating within Colombo alone. “A women operated driver fleet will enable a company to differentiate their service and increase market share,” it said.
Currently over 400,000 commuters come to Colombo daily from outside the city for work, business and education. This is in addition to the 450,000 commuters already within Colombo. Challenges for women commuters are related to safety and comfort while using public transport services; many cases of harassment of women commuters have been reported.