Tech Culture

In a few weeks, Uber will connect women riders with women drivers. This feature will make its way to the United States piloting the feature in Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

This began six years ago when Uber launched a feature in Saudi Arabia that let women drivers on its ride-hailing app ask to be connected to female riders. Since then, the “women preferences” feature has rolled out to 40 countries, from Argentina and Brazil to Canada, India, and Mexico.

Women can set a preference for a woman driver in the Uber app, increasing their chances of a match. After that’s done, when a female rider requests a trip, they will see an option called “women drivers.” If the wait is longer than expected, the rider can opt for another ride, according to Uber. Women drivers can switch their settings to “women rider preference.”

Uber reported 36 physical assault fatalities in 2021 and 2022, according to its latest U.S. safety report released last year. Uber noted that physical assault fatalities had jumped from previous years.

While the incidents made up a small fraction of the 1.8 billion trips that were made in 2021 and 2022 in the U.S., the uptick prompted the company to launch a variety of features to increase safety, including verified rider badges and options to audio and video record rides.

Ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft have struggled with ways to better safety and attract the broadest set of users — both on the driver and rider sides.

Ride-sharing safety has been a long-standing issue, one that has often pitted advocates and regulators against companies like Uber and Lyft. And while rare, reports of sexual assaults and fatal attacks have only fueled those concerns.

Uber was the first major ride-sharing company to launch the women preferences feature. However, Lyft was the first to offer a women-matching feature in the United States — its primary market.