Kenya (Nairobi) May 2: Kenyan women are taking to the wheel as taxi-hailing application Mushroom hits the road. In a male-dominated sector of private taxi services, women are joining in, adding more benefits to the female passengers. These women step out all ready and well-dressed, their nails manicured and their matching stilettos. One would assume them to be corporate world professionals but these women are changing the perception as they take control of the cabs.

The taxi-hailing application Mushroom is beneficial as it fills in the inconvenience in the poor public transport facilities. The profession is beneficial to these women as well as it gives flexible working hours, ability to select passengers and a guaranteed payment. Currently, women cabbies make only 3% of the total taxi-drivers but the numbers are rising. Little Cabs- it is one of Nairobi's popular ride-sharing application that offers the choice of male or a female driver. It has seen a 13-fold growth in the number of women driver in just two years. “Many people think taxi driving is a man’s job, but that view is changing. Customers tell us that women are careful drivers and very professional. Through our recruitment campaigns, we expect more women to join," says Jefferson Aluda, operations manager for Little Cabs to Reuters.

Taxi-driving women are also driving towards empowerment and their personal development. Although the economy of Kenya is growing the benefits are not equally distributed and thus women remain socially, economically and politically backward. Driving cabs has even proved to be a better option than any other job, in terms of pay and the working hours. The women can also choose the riders who have high ratings and opt for locations that are not very isolated. The company takes care of the safety of their drivers and track them well with the help of their GPS.

Customers too are happy with women riders and feel they are safe as compared to the males. The women are very proud of their job and it is definitely breaking barriers in the sector and also the country as a whole. Some women are even planning to have a fleet of taxis that will be for the women and by the women. It is good to see Nairobi breaking social barriers.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 02, 2018 03:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).