Pink, Women-Only Taxis In Puebla Feature GPS, Gender Norms

Puebla, Mexico has introduced a new means of transportation for women who don’t feel comfortable or safe taking public transportation or trusting male cab drivers. The city’s new taxi service is not only for women, it is also run by women. 

Each pink cab has a female driver and it’s own ladyname - like Maria and Margarita - as well as a satellite GPS tracking system and panic button connected directly to an Emergency and Immediate Displacement Unit. So when your female driver runs over a pedestrian and tries to flee the scene of the crime, everyone will know the very moment the two of you shoot a tanker truck after its driver refuses to apologize for making obscene gestures. 

We feel about these the same we felt upon learning about Mexico City’s women’s-only buses: These cabs are a bandaid solution that keep men and women separate and defined by their gender instead of working to tackle the cultural issues that lead to women feeling unsafe or uncomfortable in cabs or on buses. These moves also work to give the impression that all men are villains or not to be trusted, and the problems lies in men just being men, instead of some men being influenced by negative societal norms like machismo.

We do, however, like that these cabs are clean, safe and provide jobs for women throughout Puebla. Plus? They really make us want a strawberry milkshake. Mmm.

Pink Taxis, a very good idea from Puebla, Mexico [IKN]