Women-only trains, ride-share programmes gaining full steam

Relexnews

The concept of gender-segregated transportation such as women-only ride-share schemes and trains is gaining steam around the world, most recently with the launch of an ‘Uber for women’ and calls for ‘pink carriages’ on Australian public rail lines.
Though women-only buses, rail and subway cars have been in place for years in countries like Japan, Malaysia, India and Egypt, the concept resurfaced last month after private train operator Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn
announced the launch of a women-only car for its Leipzig and Chemnitz route in eastern Germany.
The launch was made following a spate of highly publicised sex attacks on New Year’s Eve in Cologne.
The rail company maintains the move is meant to improve
security in general and denied that the service was in direct
response to the attacks.
Meanwhile, a proposal made last week to trial an all-female carriage in Australia caused an uproar among feminists and
critics who called for male-only cars instead, describing the scheme as a Band-Aid solution to rising crime rates against women.
About 20 sexual offences are carried out against women on public buses, trams and trains every month in the state of New South Wales.
The Safe ‘Pink’ Carriages would also be installed with extra
distress buttons, on-board CCTV cameras and more regular checks by staff.
The concept of all-female transportation doesn’t end with trains. An American entrepreneur is poised to launch what’s being described as ‘Uber for Women,’ a ride-sharing scheme that uses only female drivers for female
passengers.
Set to launch next week in
Massachusetts, Chariot for Women is meant to put female riders at ease by putting a fellow woman at the wheel.
Founded by a former Uber driver, Michael Pelletz said the idea for an all-female ride-share service came to him when he picked up a strange man whose incoherent behavior and aggressive gestures made him feel afraid for his own safety.
Though fairly well-intentioned, strangely, the service is yet to be launched and it already faces
potential legal obstacles for being discriminatory against men who think there should be all men
vehicles instead.
Chariot for Women is supposed to launch April 19.