WomenFirst ride-hailing company starts up in Regina

Joy Desjardins is off to make sure someone gets a safe ride to their destination. Desjardins works for Women First, a ride-hailing company that only employs female drivers and markets itself toward female passengers. Whether they're going home after the bar, coming home from work, whatever, if they're alone at night, we just want to make sure that their safety is the most important thing. Originally started in Alberta, Desjardins launched a franchise in Regina in the spring. Uptake has been slow so far with only about three rides per day. But with about 600 app downloads and seven drivers, Desjardins hopes that'll soon change. I'm going to have on your app a four-digit code if I can get that, please. Angela Durr is one of those drivers. She remembers picking up one passenger who told her she'd been assaulted in the past and was fearful about getting in a vehicle with someone she didn't know. By the end of that 15-minute drive, she's become a regular customer with me and she gets so excited to know that Angela on her app pops up. Across Canada, police have investigated numerous reports of male ride-hailing drivers assaulting women, even in just the last couple of years. Julia Dima works with Regina Sexual Assault Centre. She says those incidents make one thing clear. We've realized that as a woman, you don't really have the privilege of being vulnerable and trusting that you are going to be treated with safety and that the people around you, particularly men, are going to do what they can to make sure you're safe. So when it comes to ride sharing or any other situation of vulnerability, anything we can do to increase that feeling of safety really matters. Desjardins and Durr say anyone can request a ride. The service has even been used to pick up kids from school. The goal is now to expand it to cities across Saskatchewan, giving everyone a chance to feel safer while getting home. Ethan Williams, CBC News, Regina.