Careem launches service for disabled travelers in Kingdom

Careem, the region’s leading car booking service and home-grown app, announced this week the launch of ‘Careem One’ in Saudi Arabia, which caters to passengers with disabilities.

‘Careem One’ is the first app service in the region that offers transportation solutions to people with disabilities and the elderly. The announcement by Careem on Tuesday is in line with Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision to improve equal opportunities for Saudis and is supported by The Ministry of Labor.

A new fleet of specially-adapted vehicles into Careem’s network and the company has modified its reservation system so that passengers with disabilities can order on demand transport that suits their specific requirements at the click of a button.

Mideast operations

Careem operates in 27 cities and 10 countries in the Middle East. In Saudi Arabia, Careem operates across 10 cities which include Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Dhahran, Al-Khobar, Alqaseem, Makkah, Madinah, Alhasa and Jubail.

According to Dr. Abdulla Elyas, co-founder of Careem and Managing Director in Saudi Arabia: “We are proud to be the first car booking application in MENAP that opens the opportunity for people with disabilities to book a ride on demand through an app. We will continue to grow and evolve to make sure we are accessible to all the different segments within our community.

“In the Kingdom, almost 4 per cent of the population have special requirements. In other words, almost 4 per cent of the people living in Saudi don’t have facilitated means of transportation and now with the push of a button, they will have a ‘Careem One’ at their door step.”

Salem al-Shaman, disability rights activist, said Careem’s new app “will help do away with the inconveniences”, especially with the feature that allows passengers to order a ride for “later”.

How it works

How it works is very simple, open your Careem app, select ‘Careem One’ Car type at the top of your screen, set your location then click ride now. The feature is currently operating in pilot mode and looking into adding more vehicles into their fleet within the next few months.