RIYADH: Nabilah, an elementary schoolteacher, expresses succinctly the common woes faced by a woman who has to rely on a taxi to stay mobile.
"Some talk loudly on the phone and drive, others drive like maniacs, while some keep adjusting their rear view mirrors just to take a peek at the woman sitting behind," she explains, while detailing the difficulties she faces.
To avoid such traumatic experiences, she now pays double the price to a company that chauffeurs her around. Unlike Nabilah, not all can make this choice.
The singular and unwarranted attentions from drivers is a gauntlet that women have to run daily as they try to go about their business - be it work, study or just family errands.
As if this is not enough, women also feel family and social pressures in taking taxis. Some families frown on their female members traveling in taxis alone, while others feel that traveling in taxis make them fair game for youngsters chasing girls.
With more women working or studying it is becoming increasingly necessary for them to use taxis especially with the absence of other forms of transport - buses or metros.
According to the Transport Ministry, there are 75,000 taxis plying the Kingdom's streets. Following the Saudization drive, about 30,000 Saudis today drive taxis, but the majority of drivers hail from the Indian subcontinent, the ministry added.
In addition to the verbal harassment, some are turned off by the driver's dress code. "Some drivers dress in their national dress while others are just unkempt," said Norah Sa'ad, a working mother with seven school-going daughters who has to move around in taxis on occasions when her daughters use the family car.
"Why don't the companies or the government enforce a dress code? Drivers' appearance is part of the city's civilized face, especially when many, including visitors, need to interact with them constantly?" she asked.
Abdulaziz Al-Ohaly, deputy minister of transportation, said that the ministry doesn't own public taxis, and hence cannot enforce a code.
"It is up to the companies, whom we provide licenses, to take note and act on it," he said.
He added that the ministry stipulates fundamental rules to the companies in order to maintain the safety and security of passengers.
"All taxi drivers are required to have an identity pad containing his full name, license number and the company he works for inside the car," he said, adding, "The Transport Ministry offers an emergency line to the public and we respond to complaints immediately. We consider every complaint, but if passengers do not report their problems then neither the ministry nor the companies should be blamed."
Fatima, who works two shifts at a funfair in Riyadh, sometimes returns home in taxis, especially when her husband is busy in the afternoon. "I don't like to get in taxis because young guys see this as a trigger to chase me," she said, adding that some people in Saudi society do not respect women who travel in taxis.
"They interpret it in two ways - either she is single or she does not have male relatives to take care of her," said the 34-year-old, adding that she always takes permission from her husband before getting into a taxi. "I think 10 times before I take a taxi," she said, adding that she is not sure that a taxi ride is always going to be safe.
When asked why her husband does not employ a driver for her so that she could avoid using taxis, Fatima said: "My husband thinks that having a driver (and car) would encourage me and my daughters to go out a lot. That's why he's not using this option."
Apart from the unwarranted attention, the fact that many drivers take their passengers for a ride by fleecing them is galling, said Shamsah, who works in a women's coffee shop.
"Women are ignorant of the distances traveled and cannot understand how the meter works. She has to take everything on face value and the taxi drivers know this," she said. "There is no fixed price for a particular distance," she added.
Shamsah, who makes SR3,000 a month and pays SR45 to get to her office from the Um Al-Hamam area in Riyadh, said: "Sometimes I pay more to get to a supermarket near my house. The drivers know our predicament and they employ the 'take it or leave it attitude' to make the most out of the situation."
But it is the verbal questioning that really gets to some passengers. Basmah Mohammed, a medical student in her early 20s, said she uses taxis two or three times a week, especially when she needs to attend an applied lesson at hospital. "During these rides what's most painful is the direct questioning or plaintive grievances of some of the drivers. Sometimes I find myself obliged to hear personal questions, such as what do I do, whether I am married, or even listen to a long story about his experience of working in the Kingdom," she said. "If we're not subjected to this then we would have an easy ride."
