Very few for-hire taxi drivers in the US are women. A new app designed to connect female-drivers to female-passengers is trying to make it easier for them to find each other.
Starting September 16, SheTaxis—which, for legal reasons, will be called She Rides in New York City due to taxi laws—will use its app-based service to escort women to their destination if they do not feel comfortable being driven by a man. The service will dispatch female drivers sporting hot pink pashmina scarves in Westchester County, New York City, and Long Island.
Founder Stella Mateo created SheTaxis with the goal of accommodating women who don’t like being driven by men—or cannot for religious or cultural reasons—and to increase the number of female drivers in the livery-service industry. The app will ask the customer if there are women-riders in their party, and if there aren’t, it will automatically redirect them to other car services.
Customers will pay their fare through the app using their credit or debit cards. This service will only be available through Apple for now, but is planned to offer an Android-compatible version in the future, as well as expanding the business to other cities like Washington DC, Miami, Chicago, and more over the next year.
Update (9/16) The launch of SheTaxis, originally planned for September 16, was put on hold due to a lack of female drivers, according to Reuters. SheTaxis founder Stella Mateo said the debut of her woman-to-woman transportation service was being delayed until 500 female taxis drivers registered with the company.
