THE slight increase in petrol prices has started taking a toll on average Saudis and residents. The drivers transporting students and female teachers are demanding a raise in their monthly charges. I recently read a news story which stated that drivers in Jeddah have raised their fares 100 percent charging SR 800 per month compared with SR 400 the previous month. Now this is sheer nonsense and absolutely unfair given the fact that each passenger is not driven separately one at a time, hence the 30 or even 50 percent increase in fuel prices should not be used as an excuse to raise the fares for all passengers by leaps and bounds. Professional drivers carry multiple commuters in one trip to and from educational institutions so the rise in fuel prices, if passed on to the passengers realistically, should not be more than SR10 per passenger per month. But then there are those who are always on the lookout for any chance of exploitation. I, for one, am greatly disappointed by this loot and plunder policy of drivers who seem to fear no one. Ethical or not, they want to make hay while the sun shines. My driver, an expat himself, told me and my colleagues to pay him 50 percent more from the current month despite the fact that he drives us only four days a week instead of the usual five. In reply to our argument, logical as it was, he simply said we had two choices: either we pay him as per his demands or find another driver. Men do not suffer as much as working women and female college and university students. Most male students and professionals drive their own cars, or can easily get a lift from a friend or colleague. Women, most often, do not have this choice for obvious reasons. With more and more women joining the working class in the country, with no permission to drive, the need for an efficient public transport system is even greater. Given the nature and fabric of society, it would make sense to have women-only buses in cities. There is no denying the fact that the Kingdom prides itself on having a wonderfully functional system of intercity buses. What is needed more is an equally efficient system of intra-city transport as well which would free those without a personal car from the shackles of private drivers.
