‘Pink Taxis’ challenge Jordan norms

Nisrin Akoubeh checks the oil and water before getting into her taxi and pulling into Amman’s heavy traffic for another day of shuttling fellow women across the Jordanian capital.

Ghena al-Asmar, a 19-year-old student who often uses the service, said she feels safer riding the women-only cars.

Around half a million women in Jordan have driving licences, about 20 percent of the country’s total drivers, according to the national traffic department.

Mohammad al-Ahmad, a 50-year-old civil servant, said that driving a taxi is not appropriate work for women.

Eid Abu al-Haj, head of an investment group behind a company that runs the Pink Taxi service, says encouraging women to drive is a service to society.

The concept has already been tried and tested in Cairo, another conservative city where women taxi drivers were previously unheard of.

Home to 4 million people and 1.4 million vehicles including over 11,000 taxis, the city is prone to choking congestion.

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