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 Travel & Outdoors | April 2007 
'Ladies´ Taxis' on Docket
 El Universal
A new taxi service in Mexico City, with women drivers and exclusively for female passengers, may be in effect by the end of the year if a legislative proposal is successful.
Initially the "ladies´ taxis" would be available in places where a high concentration of women work and commute, such as the wealthy neighborhoods of Polanco and Santa Fe, along Reforma, and in Azcapotzalco, where many factories are located.
Similar proposals have been successful in other major cities, including London, where women have access to "pink taxis," said Humberto Morgan, president of the Mexico City government´s Citizen Participation Committee.
Morgan, a member of the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and Dep. Carmen Peralta of the Green Party, will present the proposal to the legislature on Thursday.
The goal, Morgan explained, is to prevent rape, sexual assault and harassment.
During the past year, the capital government estimates roughly 400 assaults against women took place in taxis.
"These are Mexico City government projections, because there are no reliable estimates," Morgan said. The government has no approximation for how many incidents of rape or sexual harassment may have taken place. He added that he had anecdotal evidence of taxi drivers who install mirrors on the floor or the ceiling of their vehicles to peep at women´s private parts.
Official census figures put the number of women taxi drivers citywide at 70. But Morgan said the actual number is higher, considering that wives often fill in for taxi-driving husbands when they are sick or cannot work.
Female drivers are not only assaulted physically, but suffer from customer discrimination, Morgan claimed. He cited the case of a taxi driver who cut her hair short like a man´s, and another who disguises herself with a sarape, because they learned customers didn´t want to get into taxis driven by women.
The "ladies´ taxis" will be painted a different color than the usual red-and-white or green-and-white varieties. They will also be in radio contact with police.
Fares are expected to be the same as existing taxi services, and hours of operation will be from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
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