Keep our females safe - Support Rosy and Pink Cars

Aim

Rosy and Pink Cars is a taxi app created to provide a safe transport service for our grannies, mothers, aunties, sisters and children.

Who we are?

Rosy and Pink Cars is an app-based taxi service in Scotland, which will be available to all passengers in the very near future, it was also founded to ensure women have the option of a guaranteed female driver, if they choose this. We are not a hackney service; our taxis cannot be ‘flagged down’ if they are operating under Rosy and Pink Cars App, all passengers must book on our website or app. The hours of business will be from 7.00am to 11.00pm at start up, we will offer a pre-booking service for passengers wishing to book out with these times, this is subject to drivers’ availability. When the business is fully established, we aim to offer a 24-hour service. There will be a 24/7 telephone number available to both passengers and drivers for enquiries or complaints.

Why do we need funding?

We are seeking funding of £5000; this is to cover licensing and other start up fees, including advertising and rental costs. It is a requirement of the legislation that we have an office within the area we wish to operate to enable us to apply for the booking office licence. I have invested savings of £4,000 into the business and I am fully dedicated to the business, with the intention of working on it on a full-time basis. I also have plans to grow it, adding more staff as we develop. We are also hoping to raise funding to lease cars and employ drivers in order for us to deliver the service 24 hours a day.

Why am I doing this?

There is no denying that women face vulnerable situations throughout their day to day life, one of which is getting into a taxi. Rosy and Pink Cars has been developed with this in mind. The idea was to create an app for both taxi and PHV licensed female drivers, to come together and operate under one app, and offer transport services in Scotland and the UK. There are plenty of alternative taxi firms, this would be another option for women who feel safer around other women, especially at night.  

With sexual crime on the rise in Scotland, the taxi firm was created to assist women in feeling less vulnerable when travelling in a taxi by guaranteeing a female driver. Some women suffer from mental health issues which can be triggered when feeling in a vulnerable position, some women may have experienced an assault before, which might make them feel stressed and anxious when in a taxi with an unknown male driver. We hope to eliminate this stress by having female drivers available on request. Women deserve to feel safe and make their own choices about who drives them home – and this app is designed to do that. It has also been designed with female drivers in mind, to help them feel safer when they are out driving, particularly at night. I created this as I feel passionately about helping ensure women have a choice and feel safe.

Who are our drivers?

The app is available to all self-employed certified male and female taxi and private hire drivers, who may be looking to earn extra cash, or a top up to their current wages, and by becoming a member of Rosy and Pink Cars app, and depending on hours worked and the fares accepted, this could be the extra income needed. As well as the drivers’ own clients, he/she could add to their network by joining Rosy and Pink Cars app and being part of an organisation that all have one common interest, to provide a safe and reliable taxi service for our passengers. All drivers will need to be members of the PVG scheme to join and will be checked by Disclosure Scotland. A membership fee will be charged every month to gain access to our app and commission will be taken on each fare. As this is an app-based service, drivers can sign in remotely from their iPhone or smartphone as all communication will be done through our app, email or text so there is no need for a base for the drivers.

Support for Rosy and Pink Cars

There has been a lot of support for the firm, including women from different faiths who are unable to travel alone in a taxi with a male driver. This leaves them with little choice, other than ordering a taxi and requesting a female driver, which must be done well in advance. The app has also received support from Women’s Equality Branch in Glasgow and Women’s Aid. A spokesperson for Women’s Aid said of the app “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.”

Media Coverage

The story featured in a newspapers and radio, was debated on Radio Clyde and a televised interview with Jessica North from ThatsTv. The fact that people are debating if a women’s only taxi service is needed, whether you agree with it or not, is progress. It means if we are debating then we are talking about safe spaces for women and children and this itself acknowledges the fact that we have a problem with attacks on females by males. Some men are using the taxi badge as an easy way to get access to females, and this app is a way to help reduce the likelihood of attacks on women. However, Glasgow City Council claimed this app was sexist and discriminated against men, this service does not discriminate against men, it discriminates against violent men and sexual predators. There are currently 1,420 taxis and almost 3,900 licensed private cabs in Glasgow, so this would have absolutely no bearing on men – there are plenty of other choices.

Local Community Service

We wanted this to be a positive service for Glasgow and the wider community, but unfortunately, Glasgow City Council have rejected the proposal and will not agree to provide a Booking Office licence for a female only taxi app. We have decided not to appeal against this decision, as due to the current laws we would not be successful. But we are not giving up yet! We have decided to start a petition for an all-female taxi app to operate in Scotland, which will be sent to Scottish Parliament if we have enough signatures. Our petition can be found here: http://chng.it/MJxNdpZX5m, and you can also show support by joining our hashtag #itsmychoice.

In the meantime, if we are operate at all and considering this decision, the app will be available to both male and female passengers and drivers to adhere to the current Equality and gender laws, however, if any female passenger requests a female driver, a female driver will be allocated.

 How are we different from other taxi companies?

At Rosy and Pink Cars, we believe in providing comfortable, safe transport and we undertake checks on our drivers before we allow them to join our firm – this is unlike many other taxi firms. We are a new firm with ambitions for heavy growth, we have received a lot of media attention and are continuing to liaise with the media to promote Rosy and Pink Cars, so although we are a start-up, we are already widely known in the press.

Rosy and Pink Update

We are currently contacting other Councils in other areas to ask permission for Rosy and Pink Cars to operate in their area with 3 cars as per their conditions, and during this time we will apply for a Booking Operators Licence.

If you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact Mandy at [email protected].

Thank you for taking the time to read our story.

Sincerely,

Mandy Welsh

Founder

This project closed unsuccessfully on 29th October 2019