Increasing Saudi females' accessibility to employment via car-pooling in Riyadh : measure the realistic commute cost by network computing methods and investigate the share-ability based on actual taxi trip data

Abstract

Due to the driving ban as well as to social restrictions on their movement with male drivers, Saudi women have to rely on either male family members or the employer's shuttle bus; otherwise they would hire a driver or take the taxi. These few options pose high commute cost on Saudi females, hence their access to economic opportunities is restrained, especially among lower car ownership segments. Such restrictions have negative influence on Saudi females' employment. The employment rate of Saudi women is only 22%. However, no previous research has quantitatively investigated the commute cost as a financial burden and barrier to job participation for Saudi females. Taking the capital city Riyadh as a case study, this study will (1) develop the method to measure the realistic commute cost (in terms of time and money) by different transportation options for Saudi female residents in different job sectors; (2) examine the spatial mismatch between Saudi females' concentration and their job markets using the notion of accessibility; (3) demonstrate ridesharing's capacity of providing greater access for Saudi women based on spatial analysis of the current commute demands and behaviors; (4) and also look at the feasibility of developing ridesharing programs based on network analysis of current taxi trips. This study sheds light on implications for policy makers and ridesharing service companies to reduce Saudi females' commute cost so as to increase their access to economic opportunities.