Ride-hailing apps eyeing a good run

Careem and Uber too are making marketing and strategy tweaks to target the new rules allowing women to drive.

Uber plans to test a new feature that will allow women choice in being connected to women drivers. The pilot programme will be rolled out in the fall and made fully available to all women drivers in the kingdom. According to Pierre Dimitri GoreCoty, vice-president and head of operations for Uber EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), “We have partnered with Saudi women to explore how Uber can work for them, and we will continue listening as we build the future of urban mobility in Saudi Arabia together.”

Careem, which has invested nearly $80 million (Dh293.84 million) over the past five years in its Saudi operations, is pumping in another $30 million this year. It has even got on board its first woman driver, Enaam Gazi Al Aswad.