Just getting a cab or rideshare home from the train station after work can be difficult in outer metropolitan and regional areas.
This can be made even more stressful if you’re a woman, anxious about your safety in the car of a stranger.
That’s where Marie-Louise Pawsey comes in, she’s a rideshare driver using the Shebah app to provide safe passage to women.
Ms Pawsey lives in Glenroy, but travels all across the north western suburbs to get people from A to B.
“The feedback I’m getting is that [passengers] don’t want to be in a car with a man, if they can avoid it,” Ms Pawsey said.
“I feel like in the country, it’s even more reason to want to be safer, it’s a bit remote.”
Shebah is an all-woman rideshare app launched in 2017, with a mission to help women and children using the platform to feel secure in the knowledge they are safe – drivers need a working with children check too.
Ms Pawsey said she’s one of just a few Shebah drivers in the northwest, and it seems people really appreciate what she does.
“The message is clear from a lot of the women I pick up, no matter where they are, they’re just so grateful to have Shebah.”
She said the women she drives have told her they feel like they are “driving with a friend”.
“It’s about us being safe and comfortable,” Ms Pawsey said.
