In its latest effort to improve safety on the ride-hailing platform, Uber launched a new function on Wednesday that links female drivers with riders.
The new technology, which the platform will begin testing in the United States next month, allows female passengers to match with female drivers when booking or pre-booking rides, as well as establish a preference in their app settings. Women drivers may also choose to drive women.
“It’s about giving women more choice, control, and comfort when they ride and drive,” Uber’s vice president of U.S. and Canada operations, Camiel Irving, said in a statement.
Uber plans to launch the concept in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit. The company also stated that it tested the feature in nations such as France, Germany, and Argentina.
This is not Uber’s first experiment with gender preferences on its platform.
Uber launched a women rider preference function for female drivers in Saudi Arabia in 2019, following women’s permission to drive in 2018. That product was later expanded to over 40 nations. According to a corporate poll conducted in 2015, around one-fifth of its drivers in the United States were women.
Ride-hailing businesses like Uber and Lyft have been linked to sexual assault and harassment events, raising safety concerns.
Uber has introduced various measures in recent years to increase platform safety, including underage accounts and rider and pin verification.
In late 2023, competitor Lyft introduced a feature that links female and nonbinary drivers and riders.
The business stated that while the rider’s preference is not assured, the tool boosts the likelihood of women being paired in the app.
