RUSSIA: A new taxi service run by women for women has found a niche in Moscow, a city whose streets are clogged with unregistered taxis

They are pink, sparkling clean, and comfortable. They are also safe and punctual. Pink Taxi, driven only by professional female drivers, is Moscow's latest answer to its bulging fleet of unregulated taxis. But to hail one down, you have to be a woman. Pink Taxis were started in August 2006 by a group of female entrepreneurs and is the Russian capital's only taxi service run by women for women. With the slogan "Safe and Comfortable", the company offers an alternative to women fed up with badly-behaving male taxi drivers. The founder of Pink Taxi, 34-year-old economist Olga Fomina, says she started the company because women in Moscow risk being raped or robbed by male drivers. "It is often not safe for women to take a ride with a man. My friends experienced trouble, I once had a problem, so a few female friends and I got together and decided to create a professional business, a taxi company that only serves women and children. Men can also take our taxi, but only when they are together with a woman," said Fomina. The formula proves to be a winning one. The company started with only two cars and grown to 14 in seven months, with 13 more cars already ordered. Their vehicles are on the road round-the-clock, currently carrying out 5,000 orders per month. In Moscow, only a small number of taxis are regulated. The rest are often dirty, beaten-up Lada's driven by people trying to make extra money. They can be flagged down at any place, but safety cannot be guaranteed. Some women have been harassed even in registered cabs. After a bad experience in a Yellow Taxi, one Moscow's largest taxi companies, twenty-seven-year-old Sveta Cidik is delighted to know about Pink Taxi. "I had a bad experience in a Yellow Taxi, but I don't want to talk in detail about it. I was almost taken to the forest [by the taxi driver], he made passes at me, it was not nice. Now I don't use Yellow Taxis anymore," said Cidik, while sitting in a Pink Taxi on her way to work. In Pink Taxi's small office in the outskirts of Moscow, the telephone keeps ringing. Unlike the unregistered taxis, Fomina says her 30 drivers are all professionals. Not only that, they have been asked to be good listeners, share gossip and be attentive to clients. "Our taxis offer extra services, we hand out tissues, we have medicines for headache, small toiletries for women, magazines, toys for children, they are all in need. And we offer security. With our female drivers, women can feel safe. Our women are all very good professional drivers. The time has proved it: we have so many clients today, we know there is a need for our service, we are never late. I think we have found a niche in the market," Fomina said. One of the extra services is offering child seats for children, a rarity in Moscow. Pink Taxi can also bring children to school, accompany women on a shopping spree and take them on a night out.

ITN Source | March 24, 2007

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