Uber reports more Saudi women drivers

RIYADH: Uber has revealed a 50 per cent year-on-year increase in women drivers in Saudi Arabia working for the ride-hailing company, Arab News reported.

The global firm has introduced country-specific policies to the kingdom to encourage Saudi women drivers and passengers to use the platform.

The company’s “Women Preferred View” means women drivers in the country are able to select women-only riders.

The initiative, rolled out in 2020, not only saw a rise in women drivers, but also sparked a 79 per cent year-on-year increase in the average weekly women trips taken in the kingdom.

Mohammed Gazzaz, Uber’s general manager in Saudi Arabia, hailed the success of the policy, and said: “We invested in months of research and focus groups to establish what really mattered to women in relation to transport and driving with confidence, and to help devise initiatives that would make a substantial difference to women’s lives.”

He said: “We support the goal of increasing female participation in the workforce by providing flexible economic opportunities and offering women affordable transport solutions to get to their places of work.”

The company also launched another initiative, Masaruky, to support the ongoing government drive to empower Saudi women and help them contribute towards the development of the national economy.

Masaruky was launched with a SR1 million ($266,667) pledge, in partnership with Al-Nahda Foundation and the Saudi Driving School, to support women who wanted to obtain their driver’s licence but who lacked the means.

The programme aims at increasing women participation in the workforce through access to affordable transportation, in addition to increasing women’s access to flexible economic opportunities through Uber Technology, which more than 200,000 Saudis currently benefit from.

The main findings from an Uber-commissioned Ipsos poll found that 31 per cent of those surveyed were interested in driving as an earnings opportunity, while 74 per cent said they only wanted to carry women riders.