Boost for women driven taxis

New Delhi: The alleged rape of a woman passenger by an Uber taxi driver once again spotlights the risks of India’s transport system, which fails to keep women safe. One solution: Taxis driven by women for women.

Last year, Kerala launched ‘She Taxis’, a fleet of 40 pink taxis run by women, and fitted with wireless tracking gear and panic buttons linked to call centres. Now the service has become a model for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to replicate nationwide, its chief executive says.

“The Delhi incident shows the need for ‘She Taxis’ all over the country,” P.T.M. Sunish said. ‘She Taxis’ has ferried 24,000 people on about 10,000 trips since November 2013. Demand so far exceeds supply that as many as half of callers have to be turned away, Mr Sunish said.

“I feel secure and the family is satisfied,” said Aswathy Sreekumar, 25, a technology worker who has used the service for seven months, after finishing work at midnight.

Rising sex crimes have prompted Indian states and small firms to launch taxi services run by women. The trend grew after December 2012 protests over the gangrape of a young woman on a moving bus in New Delhi.

Tougher laws and promises of better policing have proved ineffectual. India’s public transport is the fourth most dangerous in the world for women, and nighttime safety ranks second worst, a recent poll showed. Women commuters face sexual harassment in public transport.

“The Uber incident reinforces that you are safer when a taxi is driven by a woman. People would be keen now,” said Susieben Shah, who started Priyadarshini Taxi Service in 2010 in Mumbai