No men allowed in Pink Taxis

A fleet of hot pink taxis are hitting the pavement in Mexico, and it's all in an effort to give women a safe ride home.
The Associated Press reported on October 19 that 35 female-operated cabs are now patrolling the streets of the city of Puebla. The Chevy compacts not only refuse to pick up men, but also come with a GPS tracking system, an emergency alarm button, and a beauty kit.
Pink Taxi driver Aida Santos told AP: "Some of the woman who have been on board tell us how male taxi drivers cross the line and try to flirt with them and make inappropriate propositions." "In the Pink Taxi they won't have that feeling of insecurity, and they feel more relaxed," Santos continued. Not everyone, however, is enthusiastically hailing the new service. Some believe the bubblegum-colored cabs are just a way to sugarcoat the real problem of sexual harassment. Vianeth Rojas of the Network for Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Puebla told AP that the cabs "are absolutely not helping eradicate violence against women" and are simply "saying women have continued worrying about beauty and nothing more." Still, the taxis are opening doors for women in an overwhelmingly male-dominated profession. Forty-year-old taxi driver Lidia Hernandez called the taxi service "a new and attractive source of employment." Before getting a job with the pink taxi service, Hernandez had been working at a gas station. The privately financed Pink Taxi service cost about $440,000 to start up, with the Puebla state government providing licensing and training to female drivers. Similar services have been catching on other cities world-wide, such as Moscow and Dubai. If the program is successful, it may be expanded to other cities as well. Now so far as I can tell beautiful Tampa Bay is not going to be invaded by PINK TAXIS.