Rana Karazi launches women-only Moto Taxi in Beirut

In its issue of August 31, An Nahar spotlighted Rana Karazi, from Tarik Jdideh, Beirut, who launched A women-only motorbike taxi three months ago after she lost her job due to the economic downfall. Speaking to the newspaper, Rana, 29, a mother of a young man and woman, said she has been driving a motorcycle for three years for it is faster, easier in traffic jams and cheaper. But she never thought of making it a private business. What sparked the idea, Karazi went on to say, is her friend who said she will pay her to drive her child to and from where he needed to be. “When I completed the assignment, I told myself why don’t I make a private business out of it,” Rana boasted. When asked about the difficulties she is facing in her transport service, Rana said there is nothing worth mentioning. Everyone got used to seeing me driving the motorbike before it became my source of livelihood, Rana said. I trained my daughter how to drive a motorbike and she became my partner, and I had to hire a third woman driver to meet demand, she explained. Rana, who charges LBP 3,000 for every trip within the capital, Beirut, said she hoped to expand her business with the growing demands that exceed all expectations. (An Nahar, August 31, 2020)