Letter from the owner

I would like to start by personally thanking everyone for their support. The response and interest to the newspaper reports regarding the app have been overwhelming and proved that this service is not only needed but wanted by both men and women.

Sexual crimes, including rape, have risen to the highest level ever recorded- an 8% increase. Rosy and Pink Cars was created to assist women in feeling safer and less vulnerable when travelling in a taxi by providing a female driver.

In 2018 after reading newspaper reports highlighting that women were becoming more and more vulnerable travelling in taxis alone with male drivers, I realised that taxi companies could not always guarantee a female taxi driver. A request for a female driver was usually made in advance and there are no taxi services available solely for women and child passengers. This is when the idea began to develop into a taxi app so both taxi and PHV licensed female drivers in Glasgow, could come together and offer transport services for our grannies, mothers, aunties, sisters and of course, our children.

However, the licensing chiefs at Glasgow City Council rejected our booking office proposal for Rosy and Pink Cars, stating that “members of the committee were concerned this was discriminatory in nature”.

The council claimed this app was sexist and discriminated against men. We feel that this service does not discriminate against all men, but it will protect women against the violent men and sexual predators who abuse the taxi industry. There are currently 1,420 taxis and almost 3,900 licensed private cabs in Glasgow who are mostly men. So this small venture would have absolutely no bearing on men– there are plenty of other choices.

This is what Rosy and Pink Stands for. Another Choice. It was created because some women feel safer being picked up by another woman, some men feel safer knowing their partner, child or mother is being picked up by a woman. Some women suffer from mental health issues which can be triggered when feeling in a vulnerable position, or may have experienced an assault before, which might make them feel stressed and anxious when in a taxi driven by an unknown male driver. Some women from faith backgrounds who are limited in their travel options.

It has also been designed with female drivers in mind, to help them feel safer when they are out driving, particularly at night. Women deserve to feel safe and make their own choices about who drives them home– and this app is designed to do that.

A spokesperson for Women’s Aid, a leading charity for the support of women, said that “there is no avoiding the fact that women are vulnerable in daily life, this is increased in situations where women are alone…it seems an obvious solution”