To make women passengers feel safer and more comfortable, Uber has announced a pilot program that will allow female drivers to transport female passengers. Now, they can directly ask for female drivers while booking rides. This effort will launch early next month and will be piloted first in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit.
This new feature is a major step towards giving women greater choice and control over their travel experiences. Women riders may opt to only match with women drivers—this option can be selected in the app’s settings. This feature is part of regular bookings and pre-bookings in the app. This program responds to ongoing safety concerns that Uber has faced, particularly regarding incidents of sexual assault and harassment that have raised questions about the platform’s role in these occurrences.
Uber’s decision to implement this women-only ride feature follows a similar initiative launched in Saudi Arabia in 2019, which allowed female drivers to cater specifically to women riders. This feature came in four years after women had finally received the right to drive in the conservative kingdom. Since then, Uber has implemented this women rider preference feature in at least 39 other countries. Additionally, they have rolled out similar tools in places such as France, Germany, and Argentina.
Camiel Irving, Uber’s vice president of U.S. and Canada operations, underscored the significance of this new program when he said,
“It’s about giving women more choice, more control, and more comfort when they ride and drive.”
This decision comes at a time when ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft are experiencing heightened scrutiny. They’re under the microscope when it comes to implementation—especially for issues related to safety. The headline on that story last week read Uber launches women-only ride program. This program intends to fill those gaps in safety and ensure a safer space for everyone who uses the streets.
As this new pilot program gets underway, Uber is looking for as much feedback as possible from participants. They hope to measure its success and look to build the initiative out more broadly. The company hopes that by providing this option, it will foster a safer and more welcoming atmosphere for women utilizing its services.