A woman-only taxi service has been forced to apply the brakes after it failed to attract enough female drivers into the job.

The New York-based SheTaxi iPhone app was created for women who feel uneasy getting into a cab alone with a male driver because of safety concerns or religious beliefs.

Currently only three per cent of New York's 115,000 taxi drivers are female, so SheTaxi - which was scheduled for launch yesterday - was built to book only taxis driven by a woman for its users.

The release of the app has now been delayed by owner Stella Mateo however, after she said it would not be financially viable until at least another 400 female drivers register with the company.

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Apply the brakes: Dinorah De Cruz is one of 100 women currently signed up to drive for SheRides - an iPhone app helping female passengers locate women taxi drivers in New York City. The launch of the app has been delayed until at least another 400 female drivers register with the service

Mateo said about 100 women have signed up as drivers so far. They will wear bright pink pashmina scarves, making it easy to identify them.

'In the taxi and livery industry, where women comprise less than 3 per cent of drivers but 60 per cent of riders, women's needs go unmet on either side of the partition,' said Mateo, whose husband Fernando is founder of the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers.

'Why don't we have female drivers exclusively for female riders?', she added at a news conference yesterday.

SheTaxis is the name of the service in the New York suburbs, while SheRides is used in the city itself, which has regulations governing the use of 'taxi' in a name.

When it is eventually launched, the app will be available for the iPhone initially - before an Android version is eventually launched. There also are plans to expand to other U.S. cities.

Going places: Driver Dinorah De Cruz (left) talks with Stella Mateo (right) - founder of the SheTaxi car service. Drivers will be required to wear bright pink pashmina scarves, making them easy to identify

Mateo said the service, which will use an Uber-like smartphone app, determined that demand would outstrip the capacity of the 100 female drivers currently available to fulfill requests.

Access to female drivers, she said, would particularly help some Muslim and Orthodox Jewish women whose religious beliefs prohibit them from traveling alone with unrelated men.

She said that encouraging women to drive would also allow them to become small business owners in an industry that has no gender pay gap and also provides flexibility for working mothers.

In order to recruit more women drivers, Mateo said SheTaxis/SheRides will hold a women's opportunity job fair starting September 16 at its Long Island City offices for seven days a week from 10am to 8pm.

Prepared: SheTaxi driver Dinorah De Cruz walks up to a New York Taxi and Limo Commission brokerage to collect her insurance and license paperwork yesterday afternoon

As for legal questions that have been raised as to whether a women-only car service might be discriminatory against men, Andrew Celli, an attorney for SheTaxis/SheRides, said 'We have no legal issues as far as I'm concerned.'

But the city's Human Rights Commissioner, Patricia Gatling, said the agency is reminding car service companies that denying service based on gender is illegal under city law.

He noted that the service, which partners with a number of established livery car firms, would not exclude male riders.

Tamika Mallory, spokeswoman for SheTaxis/SheRides, has said male riders could be referred to a livery affiliate if a female driver was not available.

On the road: SheTaxi driver Dinorah De Cruz gets into her car after a visit to a Taxi and Limo Commission brokerage. Currently only three per cent of New York's 115,000 taxi drivers are female, so SheTaxi - which had been scheduled for launch yesterday - was built to book only taxis driven by a woman for its users

Stella Mateo did not give a target date for the launch of the service, which will rely on an Apple app with an Android version to follow.

Dinorah Decruz, 64, of East Meadow on Long Island, said the app made her decide to get back to driving after stopping about a year ago. She said she had some safety concerns and was almost robbed by a man once. She said focusing on women passengers makes her more comfortable.

'I like the idea,' she said. 'It feels safe.'

Bronya Shaffer, 66, of Brooklyn, said the app is a good idea and she would encourage her daughters to use it. She likened it to being able to go to female doctors or attorneys.