Uber Pilots Feature To Match Women Riders With Women Drivers

Uber has unveiled a new feature aimed at enhancing safety and comfort by allowing women riders and drivers to opt to be matched with one another. The tool will begin a pilot rollout in the U.S. next month, starting in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit.

The feature allows women passengers to select a preference for being matched with a woman driver when booking or scheduling rides. Similarly, women drivers can choose to accept ride requests only from women. While the company says matches aren’t guaranteed, the feature significantly increases the likelihood of women being paired.

“It’s about giving women more choice, more control, and more comfort when they ride and drive,” said Camiel Irving, Uber’s Vice President of U.S. and Canada Operations.

The pilot follows successful tests of similar features in countries like France, Germany, and Argentina.

Uber first introduced a gender-based preference tool in 2019 in Saudi Arabia after women gained the legal right to drive. That feature, which allows women drivers to opt into accepting only women riders, has since expanded to around 40 countries.

This latest move comes amid ongoing scrutiny of ride-hailing platforms over safety concerns, particularly related to incidents of sexual assault and harassment. Uber and its competitor Lyft have faced lawsuits and public criticism over how they handle such cases.

To address these issues, Uber has introduced several safety-focused features in recent years, including verified teen accounts, PIN-based ride verification, and real-time trip tracking.

Lyft introduced a similar rider-driver gender preference option in late 2023, allowing women and nonbinary users to match with one another.

Uber To Launch New Feature Pairing Women Riders With Women Drivers  was originally published on wolbbaltimore.com