Companies hail lifting of female driving ban in Saudi

Global and local companies hailed the lifting of driving ban on Saudi women as "momentous and historic" as new drivers took to the roads midnight on Saturday.

“This is a historic day for both the Kingdom and Saudi women and advances Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman’s progressive Vision 2030," Crystal Worthem, marketing director at Ford Middle East & Africa, told Argaam.

In September 2017, King Salman announced the decision to allow women to drive starting June 24. The decision is in line with the Vision 2030 blueprint for the future, spearheaded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"It is an incredibly exciting time for the Kingdom and for Ford as a business,” Worthem said.

“We (are working) closely with our local distributor, Al Jazirah Vehicles Agencies Co., to welcome Saudi women to the front, in the driver’s seat and to the Ford showrooms across the Kingdom.”

According to American automaker, it is committed to help Saudi women get more confidence behind the steering wheel through a specially designed variation of “Driving Skills for Life,” its global program that has trained millions of young drivers across the world. 

Separately, Abdul Latif Jameel Motors, the authorized distributor of Toyota vehicles in the Kingdom, unveiled a number of initiatives to train Saudi women in the run-up to the lifting of the driving ban.

It recently launched strategic partnership with the traffic police to support women’s driving schools under a program called “Together from the Start.”

"We are providing 500 Toyota vehicles to women driving schools, such as Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University in Dammam and the University of Tabu," the company said in a statement to Argaam.

Abdul Latif Jameel Academy, its vocational training institute, organized its first women training workshop under the title “Car Basics for Ladies.” It also conducted the “Look Who’s Driving” campaign, an awareness campaign that included virtual driving.

Meanwhile, riding sharing app Uber announced plans to test a new feature for women drivers in Saudi Arabia that will provide them the option to select a preference for women riders.

The pilot is expected to be rolled out soon.

In February 2018, Uber’s research found almost 31 percent of those surveyed indicated they were interested in driving as an earnings opportunity.

In a more recent study, the company also found that 74 percent of prospective women drivers interviewed prefer women riders.

“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,” said Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty, vice president & Head of Operations for Uber EMEA.

The firm will open its first women partner support center in Riyadh to serve the expected influx of Saudi female partner drivers.