Women’s taxis to increase safety in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel: Call for pilot project

Hamburg. So that women can Hamburg feel more comfortable on the way home, demands the SPD in Eimsbüttel women taxis. Because especially in the dark, girls and women fear becoming victims of attacks.

According to the corresponding application, these special taxis are intended to bring women safely to the next public transport stop and from the public transport stop to their front door at night and in the evening.

Hamburg-Eimsbüttel: The district is to start the “Women’s Taxi” pilot project

“There are already so-called women’s taxis in many large cities such as Frankfurt, Hanover and Stuttgart. In the Hamburg area, in Geesthacht, there is such an offer especially for women,” says the application. According to the traffic and mobility authority in Hamburg, there are currently no women’s taxis.

The Eimsbüttel SPD wants to change that and calls on the district office management to work with the authority for mobility and traffic change to get them together with the taxi associations, the HVV and Moia GmbH to start a corresponding pilot project in Eimsbüttel.

And the cost? “Stuttgart, Frankfurt or Bremen can do it too, why not Hamburg?” says Gabor Gottlieb, SPD parliamentary group leader in Eimsbüttel.

Women’s taxis: Stuttgart, Bremen and Bremen are leading the way

The SPD deputies Bremen and Stuttgart take themselves as role models. In Stuttgart, you inform the train or bus driver who orders a taxi. In Bremen, call the relevant taxi company directly.

According to research by the Abendblatt, women and girls as well as children up to the age of 14 can request a women’s night taxi in Bremen between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. This is then up to 20 percent cheaper than the normal taxi rate.

Eimsbüttel: The journey will be cheaper for women

Most offers give women a discount on the fare or charge a fixed price without an odometer, so that all women can use this offer regardless of their social status.

This is important, because the transport fees in Hamburg will increase again on July 1st. It gets significantly more expensive, especially on weekends.

Hamburg-Eimsbüttel: women’s taxi should offer security

This is exactly what Gabor Gottlieb and his colleagues want in Hamburg. And they go even further. “We want everyone in Hamburg to be able to move around safely and feel good about it. We believe that the women’s taxi can be a good building block,” says Gottlieb. Because women are always being harassed in Hamburg – in 2021 a total of 407 cases were reported to the Hamburg police.

MEPs also want to take into account people with a diverse gender identity. With the previous offers in Germany, only women are addressed.

Taxi company: “We are very open-minded”

The idea is well received by Hansa-Taxi, for example. “We’re very open-minded,” says a spokesman. The chairman Thomas Lohse is quoted in the specialist journal “Taxi-Times”: “We would be willing to talk to the authorities about possible criteria for an introduction.”

It is necessary to clarify what is needed and what requirements the drivers have to meet. The scope of the offer and possible subsidies from the city also have to be clarified.

Women’s taxis in Eimsbüttel: Hochbahn welcomes the idea

At the Hochbahn, the idea is basically a good one, but: “Our bus drivers can’t wait at the bus stops for a taxi to arrive,” says Hochbahn spokesman Christoph Kreienbaum, adding: “Everyone has a cell phone and can call a taxi, that would have to be the case not necessarily take over the bus drivers.”

The application was submitted and discussed on Wednesday, June 7th, in the mobility committee of the Eimsbüttel district assembly.

Updated: Thursday, 08/06/2023, 03:40