New York – NYC’s Women-Only Taxi Service Brakes For Now

    7

    Dinorah De Cruz gets into her livery car after a visit to a Taxi and Limo Commission brokerage, Monday, Sept. 15, 2014, in New York. De Cruz is one of 100 women currently signed up to drive for SheRides, a car service by women drivers for women riders in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island. Less than 3 percent of the city's 115,000 licensed taxi, livery and limousine drivers are women, and that can be a problem for women who are reluctant to get into a cab alone with a male driver because of safety concerns or religious and social mores. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)New York – The debut of a livery car service providing women drivers for female passengers in the New York City area has stalled over lack of a sufficient number of drivers, the founder of the service said on Monday.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    In a news conference on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan, Stella Mateo, the founder of SheTaxis/SheRides, said the launch of the service, which was scheduled for Sept. 16, has been delayed until a total of 500 women drivers can be recruited.

    Mateo said the service, which will use an Uber-like smartphone app, determined that demand would outstrip the capacity of the 100 female drivers currently available to fulfill requests.

    She said the app will not be released until SheTaxis/SheRides has signed on an additional 400 women drivers. SheTaxis is the name of the service in the New York suburbs, while SheRides is used in the city itself, which has regulations governing the use of “taxi” in a name.

    “In the taxi and livery industry, where women comprise less than 3 percent of drivers but 60 percent of riders, women’s needs go unmet on either side of the partition,” said Mateo, whose husband Fernando is founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.

    Mateo said she hoped the new service, which will feature female drivers wearing hot pink pashmina scarves, would provide safety and convenience to women as well as economic opportunity.
    Dinorah De Cruz, left, talks with Stella Mateo, founder of the SheTaxi/SheRides car service, while taking a lunch break, Monday, Sept. 15, 2014, in New York. De Cruz is one of 100 women currently signed up to drive for SheRides, a car service by women drivers for women riders in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island. Less than 3 percent of the city's 115,000 licensed taxi, livery and limousine drivers are women, and that can be a problem for women who are reluctant to get into a cab alone with a male driver because of safety concerns or religious and social mores. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
    Access to female drivers, she said, would particularly help some Muslim and Orthodox Jewish women whose religious beliefs prohibit them from traveling alone with unrelated men.

    She said that encouraging women to drive would also allow them to become small business owners in an industry that has no gender pay gap and also provides flexibility for working mothers.

    In order to recruit more women drivers, Mateo said SheTaxis/SheRides will hold a women’s opportunity job fair starting Sept 16 at its Long Island City offices for seven days a week from 10 am to 8 pm.

    As for legal questions that have been raised as to whether a women-only car service might be discriminatory against men, Andrew Celli, an attorney for SheTaxis/SheRides, said “We have no legal issues as far as I’m concerned.”

    He noted that the service, which partners with a number of established livery car firms, would not exclude male riders.

    Tamika Mallory, spokeswoman for SheTaxis/SheRides, has said male riders could be referred to a livery affiliate if a female driver was not available.

    Stella Mateo did not give a target date for the launch of the service, which will rely on an Apple app with an Android version to follow.

    Dinorah De Cruz drives through Queens on her way to the SheRide livery office, Monday, Sept. 15, 2014, in New York. De Cruz is one of 100 women currently signed up to drive for SheRides, a car service by women drivers for women riders in New York City, Westchester County and Long Island. Less than 3 percent of the city's 115,000 licensed taxi, livery and limousine drivers are women, and that can be a problem for women who are reluctant to get into a cab alone with a male driver because of safety concerns or religious and social mores. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    7 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Lodzker
    Lodzker
    9 years ago

    it sounds illegal to me.

    Can you imagine a White for White car service? Only white drivers serving only white clientele? or a mens only service?

    Secular
    Secular
    9 years ago

    “Access to female drivers, she said, would particularly help some Muslim and Orthodox Jewish women whose religious beliefs prohibit them from traveling alone with unrelated men”

    What Naarishkeit!… This is almost as useless as the Ezras Nashim project (Women’s Hatzalah)… The big ‘conundrum’: most proponents of the Ezras Nashim, don’t drive!

    The simple solution is to have women learn to drive. Our holy grandmothers in the time of old rode camels and donkeys…

    וַתָּקָם רִבְקָה וְנַעֲרֹתֶיהָ, וַתִּרְכַּבְנָה עַל-הַגְּמַלִּים, וַתֵּלַכְנָה, אַחֲרֵי הָאִישׁ;
    וַיִּקַּח הָעֶבֶד אֶת-רִבְקָה, וַיֵּלַךְ

    וַיִּקַּח מֹשֶׁה אֶת-אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת-בָּנָיו, וַיַּרְכִּבֵם עַל-הַחֲמֹר, וַיָּשָׁב, אַרְצָה מִצְרָיִם

    וְהָיָה הִיא רֹכֶבֶת עַל-הַחֲמוֹר, וְיֹרֶדֶת בְּסֵתֶר הָהָר, וְהִנֵּה דָוִד וַאֲנָשָׁיו, יֹרְדִים לִקְרָאתָהּ; וַתִּפְגֹשׁ, אֹתָם (Avigail)

    וַתַּחֲבֹשׁ, הָאָתוֹן, וַתֹּאמֶר אֶל-נַעֲרָהּ, נְהַג וָלֵךְ; אַל-תַּעֲצָר-לִי לִרְכֹּב, כִּי אִם-אָמַרְתִּי לָךְ (Shunamis)

    Why is driving a car any different. Furthermore MOST Poskim have ruled that most driving situations do NOT incur a prohibition of Yichud.

    Enough with the fake frumkeit.

    9 years ago

    It is a fantastic idea & I hope it is up & running very soon. As usual, the negativity is from men, who somehow feel threatened. What do you care? How does it hurt YOU? Time for all you misogynists to get over yourselves.

    Reb Yid
    Reb Yid
    9 years ago

    Interesting marketing program—“so many people want us that we can’t open for business”

    Secular
    Secular
    9 years ago

    The only misogynist here is you. You would rather have women not drive, and be dependent on others.

    Sounds like YOU are threatened.

    Your position is one in which you diminish women under the guise of religiosity. If women are bothered by male taxi drivers (another manufactured crisis), let them learn to drive! This fostered dependency, and handicapping of women is cloaked in words such as ‘comfort’…(poster #5 ), and exaggerated by fake Frumkeit.

    הָרַכָּה בְךָ וְהָעֲנֻגָּה, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-נִסְּתָה כַף-רַגְלָהּ הַצֵּג עַל-הָאָרֶץ, מֵהִתְעַנֵּג, וּמֵרֹךְ–תֵּרַע עֵינָהּ בְּאִישׁ חֵיקָהּ, וּבִבְנָהּ וּבְבִתָּהּ

    וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, יַעַן כִּי גָבְהוּ בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן, וַתֵּלַכְנָה נטוות (נְטוּיוֹת) גָּרוֹן, וּמְשַׂקְּרוֹת עֵינָיִם; הָלוֹךְ וְטָפֹף תֵּלַכְנָה, וּבְרַגְלֵיהֶם תְּעַכַּסְנָה