How Uber is ensuring safety of women in the US
What's the story
Uber is piloting its "women preferences" feature in the United States, a move aimed at enhancing safety and comfort for female riders. The feature, which allows women to choose female drivers for their trips, was first introduced in Saudi Arabia six years ago. Since then, it has expanded to 40 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, India and Mexico.
Pilot launch
How the feature works
The "women preferences" feature will be piloted in Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. To use this feature, female riders can set a preference for a woman driver on the Uber app. This increases their chances of getting matched with a female driver when they request a ride. If the wait time is longer than expected, they can opt for another ride option provided by Uber.
Mutual choice
What it means for women drivers
The "women preferences" feature isn't just for riders. Women drivers can also switch their settings to "women rider preference." This way, they can choose to pick up only female passengers. However, this setting is not permanent and can be changed anytime if the driver wants to accept trip requests from all riders.
Safety initiatives
Ride-hailing safety is a serious concern
Ride-hailing safety has long been a contentious issue, with reports of sexual assaults and fatal attacks raising alarms. Uber reported 36 physical assault fatalities in its latest US safety report released last year. The incidents still accounted for a tiny fraction of the 1.8 billion trips taken in 2021 and 2022 in the US. To combat these issues, Uber has launched many safety features such as verified rider badges and options to audio/video record rides.