When Uber and similar services began operating in the Kingdom a few years ago, they offered Saudi women another way of getting around. Uber reports that 80 percent of its users in the country are women. But to some, the arrangement feels exploitative, since women are a captive market. As Hatoon al-Fassi, a Saudi academic who teaches at Qatar University, says, “[Uber] shows the ugly practice of using women’s suffering to make money.” [...]
Soon, a less controversial means of transport will be available to women in cities across the country, beginning in the capital, Riyadh. The High Commission for the Development of Riyadh is implementing a six-line metro system and accompanying bus network. The project is about half complete and will be operational by 2019. Business Insider calls the undertaking “the biggest urban mass-transit system that’s ever been created from scratch.” Metro and bus lines are also on the docket for such cities as Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. [...]
Yet the main benefit of the metro will likely go to women. The trains will have cars for exclusive use by single women and families, helping to maintain the segregation of the sexes and providing a reliable, socially acceptable way to travel. (A promotional video created by the High Commission for the Development of Riyadh, above, shows women matter-of-factly taking the envisioned trains and buses.) And because hiring drivers or constantly using Uber is expensive, the metro and bus system will provide a more feasible option for women of fewer means.
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