24-07-2025
Uber To Let Female Passengers And Drivers Opt For Women-Only Rides
Soon, Uber will let female riders select female drivers—and female drivers to choose female riders.
Facing litigation from riders who claim they were sexually assaulted or harassed, Uber is introducing a feature in the U.S. that allows female drivers and passengers to ride with other women. The hope is that women will feel safer in both the passenger and driver's seats.
The company announced that the pilot program will begin in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit in the next few weeks. The feature allows women drivers to limit their rides to female passengers. In addition, female passengers can choose a female driver when requesting an Uber. Female passengers can also set a preference for women drivers in their app settings, which increases the likelihood of being matched with a female driver. Currently, about 20% of Uber drivers are women.
'Across the US, women riders and drivers have told us they want the option to be matched with other women on trips. We've heard them—and now we're introducing new ways to give them even more control over how they ride and drive,' Camiel Irving, Uber's vice-president of operations, wrote in a press release. A company spokesperson stated, via email, that internal surveys indicate that approximately 75% of women riders support a feature that allows them to connect with women drivers.
Women have reason to be cautious. In its most recent U.S. safety report, Uber said it received 2,717 reported incidents of the 'most serious categories' of sexual assault and misconduct over the previous two years. Currently, there are over 2,300 sexual assault and harassment lawsuits against the rideshare company.
The allegations in the lawsuits range in severity. In one, a Maryland woman claims that an Uber driver groped her thighs and then masturbated in front of her. When she reported the attack, she says Uber only refunded her money and promised not to match her with that driver again.
One of the legal arguments in the complaints is that a gender matching feature would have helped prevent the assaults. Just a few weeks ago, the judge overseeing these cases said he would allow plaintiffs to move forward with their legal claims that argue that Uber's failure to offer a gender-matching option contributed to their assaults.
While most of the complaints have been from passengers, some drivers have also reported sexual assault. In one case, a female Uber driver in Chicago said a male passenger threatened her with a gun, forced her to drive to a secluded area and sexually assaulted her.
With stories like these, it's natural for female drivers to worry about picking up strangers, especially at night. However, this fear may lead women drivers to earn less than men do. Research reveals that female Uber drivers earn 7% less than their male counterparts. One explanation the researchers propose for this pay gap is that female drivers choose to drive in different locations and at different times than male drivers. The same study found that women drivers were more likely than men to quit driving for Uber within their first six months with the company. The new feature may empower female drivers and help level the playing field.
Lyft introduced a similar feature in 2023, which allows female and nonbinary drivers and riders to prioritize matching with other women and nonbinary individuals. Unlike the Uber version, Lyft doesn't guarantee that drivers or riders will be paired with a woman or nonbinary person; it merely prioritizes these matches. Nonetheless, Lyft claims that 67% of eligible Lyft drivers have opted to use the feature.
Uber has previously introduced other features to make riders and drivers feel safer. For example, both riders and drivers can record their trips on the app. Riders can make audio recordings, while drivers can also record video. The recordings are encrypted and not available for viewing or listening unless submitted with a safety incident to the company.
The new Uber feature, which allows women to choose to ride with other women, was first introduced in 2019 in Saudi Arabia (after the country granted women the right to drive). Since its launch, it has been adopted in over 40 countries and has been used on more than 100 million trips.
With so few women currently behind the wheel for Uber in the U.S., hopefully this new feature will make driving feel safer, opening doors for more women to earn on the platform.
