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

Careem is the first app service in the region that offers transportation solutions to people with disabilities and the elderly.

The announcement is in line with Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision to improve equal opportunities for Saudis and is sponsored by The Ministry of Labor.

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

Dr. Abdulla Elyas, co-founder of Careem and Managing Director in Saudi Arabia, said: “As a leader in the industry we feel obligated to lead by example and set the tone for other companies to do the same. We are in the region to offer safe and reliable rides for everyone, including people with disabilities. 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.”

“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 15% of the world’s population live with some form of disability. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia almost 4% of the population have special requirements. In other words, almost 4% 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 doorstep.”

Salem Al Shaman, disability rights activist, said: “People with mobility impairment face challenges while accessing transport services due to the lack of sufficient disability abled cars, and this affects their daily life. Careem’s new offering will help do away with the inconveniences especially with the feature that allows passengers to order a ride for “later”.

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.

Careem operates in 27 cities of ten Middle Eastern countries. In Saudi Arabia Careem is operating across ten local cities which include Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Dhahran, Al-Khobar, Alqaseem, Makkah, Madinah, Alhasa and Jubail.