Friday, June 16, 2006

Women taxi drivers

I rarely take taxis in Dubai. As a matter of fact, my trip to the airport a month ago was only the second time I ever took a taxi in Dubai in the past year. On the way back from the airport, we walked over to an empty taxi, and there was a woman waiting next to the car...turns out she was the driver.

To be quite honest, in my 10 years of living in Canada, I don't recall ever seeing a woman taxi driver, so coming across a lady driver here in Dubai came as both a shock and a pleasant surprise.

In a country where the number of women in the work force is still relatively low compared to some western countries, and where the taxi driver profession is sometimes looked down upon, it's great that women here feel comfortable enough to join any professional environment they want.

Girl power!!

11 comments:

secretdubai said...

When I first arrived here, five years ago, I was directed to a female taxi driver at the airport.

I have not seen a single female taxi driver ever since. I know they're out there, but god knows where. Maybe they get pre-booked out by local ladies and stuff?

Rampurple said...

u know... in lebanon we have a few female taxi drivers as well.. it always makes me smile. so do female mechanics.

Laila K said...

well i've been with a couple in montreal, and i love it that they dont have issues with it. wish all women were like that(independent and strong i mean, not taxi drivers). as you said, girl power!

nzm said...

I've only seen them at the airport too, but again, not lately.

It's a shame, because they are the best drivers and have no problem in chatting to me!

Seabee said...

I've had female, I think Emirati, female drivers too - but again only at the airport. I've never seen one just driving around looking for fares.

Mar said...

Girl Power!!! But I will never see or accept a construction worker girl the same way. That's more like girl torture.

I find it funny when I see orange street construction signs that say " Men At Work"and on the site, a couple of women in a hole. That's discrimination man :P

How come women never bring up such discriminatory signs when they call for equal equal EQUAL equality?

Dubai Sunshine said...

I guess these women drivers mostly go to the airport...and like you mentioned Vayaconsatan, I am sure they are in high demand by local women.

Mar, I think they should change those signs to "People at work"...It's more PC than "Men at work"!

Anyway, it's pretty cool that we have women drivers here...Hopefully it's a sign that more women will be joining the workforce.

Parv said...

Slightly mistaken. Having women taxi drivers is not attributed to 'Girl Power' at all.

In actuality, the Dubai Transport Authority had no recourse but to introduce female taxi drivers, inorder to accommodate the mass of local women who required the use of taxi services, but were reluctant to step into a vehicle driven by a man. So yes, you will mostly see female drivers at the airport or on call.

BuJ said...

lol most of u commenters seems to be ladies.. so here's one from a guy!

i reckon if i was a taxi driving boss i'd hire women only.. they are much more polite. drive safer. and balances the market a bit!

i have heard that RAK has a few local-women drivers.

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