Uber Dubai gets its first female limo driver

The driver Fritzie Castro, 43, a Filipina, has been in Dubai for seven years.

Joining the ranks of women cabbies in pink scarves you see at Dubai airport, Uber Dubai got its first female limo driver yesterday.
The driver Fritzie Castro, 43, a Filipina, has been in Dubai for seven years. She works the 4am-4pm shift, waking up six days a week at 2 am, setting out and waiting in the car for passengers to ping.
Castro, a licensed limo driver for the Road and Transport Authority (RTA), started ferrying passengers on Tuesday. She drives the Land Cruiser allocated to her that remains parked outside her home in Satwa.
Despite a slow start to the early mornings, Castro is now the first female limousine driver in the ridesharing industry in Dubai. The mother of three (her eldest is 21) says she gets at least seven-eight passengers on any given day, and is looking forward to meeting more people now that she's linked to Uber.
Fritzie used to be with the Emirates Transport fleet before moving on to Duin Luxury Cars, working for seven months as their transport coordinator for major hotel chains in the city. Doing the rounds of hotels, she heard about Uber through visitors and hotel guests requesting the service.
She says: "I hope this will encourage more of my female colleagues to join." Echoing her sentiment, Chris Free, GM of Uber UAE said: "We believe this will be just the beginning - and anticipate adding more female drivers to the limo fleet this year."
Earlier in the week, Uber and RTA signed an agreement that enabled more than 14,000 Dubai taxis and limousines to be booked via Uber - 14,541 public vehicles, including 9,841 taxis and 4,700 limousines.
nivriti@khaleejtimes.com