Latest news with #Lyft
Engadget
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- Engadget
Uber will help pair women riders and drivers in the US
Uber has announced that Women Preferences, a feature which will allow women riders to be matched exclusively with women drivers and vice versa, is being tested in the US. This feature was first launched in Saudi Arabia in 2019 . Competitor Lyft has also operated its Women+ Connect program since 2023 . In the next few weeks, Women Preferences pilots will begin in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit. Once live, women riders will see an option called Women Drivers when requesting a trip on demand. Reservations can also be made to pre-book a trip with a woman driver. For something less certain, riders can set a preference for a woman driver in their Uber app settings. While this won't guarantee a woman driver, it does increase the chances. On the driver's side of things, the new feature functions in much the same way. Women drivers will have the option to request trips with women riders at all times of day by toggling on the "Women Rider Preference" in their app settings. Since its 2019 launch, Uber has expanded this feature to 40 countries, based on user demand and rider feedback. Ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft have been working to increase rider and driver safety by improving safety tools and expanding ID verification programs. It's notable that while Lyft's Women+ Connect program acknowledges that the program includes nonbinary drivers and riders, Uber's Women Preferences does not. Much of this was in response to lawsuits and alarming reports of sexual assault and violence during rides. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
UPI
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- UPI
Uber to let women avoid male riders and drivers
Across the U.S., "women riders and drivers have told us they want the option to be matched with other women on trips," Camiel Irving, Uber's VP of U.S. and Canada operations, said Wednesday as the company announced its new feature to allow women to pick women drivers or passengers. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo July 23 (UPI) -- Uber said Wednesday its new feature will allow women passengers and drivers to avoid being paired with men on the ride-sharing app in a push to enhance safety. Across the United States, "women riders and drivers have told us they want the option to be matched with other women on trips," Camiel Irving, Uber's VP of U.S. and Canada operations, wrote in a release. "We've heard them -- and now we're introducing new ways to give them even more control over how they ride and drive." The pilot program is slated to begin next month in the United States. It will permit and prioritize a woman-to-woman match when they book or pre-book a ride, which can be a new preference in the app's settings. It also will allow a female driver the option to choose only another person of the same gender. Irving says it's about giving women more choice, control and comfort. However, the option is not a guaranteed but does maximize the likelihood of woman-woman pairing. The Uber pilot program will start American operations in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit. It begins in the United States after the feature's trial run in Germany, France and Argentina. "Most drivers are men, so we've worked to ensure this feature was truly usable in different places around the world," Irving added. Uber in 2019 put out its women ride preference in Saudi Arabia after women were granted the right to drive the year prior, which saw the ride feature expanded to roughly 40 other nations. That came after the global ride-sharing company was given a $3.5 billion Saudi investment in 2016. It's among a number of other safety features Uber unveiled in recent years. It comes nearly a year after Uber's competitor Lyft launched its own similar app options for women and nonbinary persons.
CNET
9 hours ago
- Automotive
- CNET
Uber Will Match Women Riders and Drivers, Starting in Three US Cities
Table of Contents Uber Will Match Women Riders and Drivers, Starting in Three US Cities Uber says it will offer more options for women using its ride-sharing service. The company will roll out Women Preferences in three cities, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit "in the next few weeks," according to an Uber blog post. The features, Ubers says, are designed "to give women riders and drivers more choice, more confidence, and more flexibility when they use Uber." The features include Request on demand, for women to see a list of drivers who are women. If the wait time is longer, the company says, customers can still opt for a faster pickup. Reserve in advance, to pre-book a trip with women drivers. Set a preference, a setting to increase the chances of being matched with a woman driver. Drivers for Uber will have similar matching features in a "Women Rider Preference" toggle switch. The company says these new features were inspired by featured it introduced in Saudi Arabia in 2019. In 2013, Lyft launched a set of features called Women Plus Connect for women and nonbinary riders and drivers.
Los Angeles Times
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Uber tests option to match female riders and drivers
Uber Technologies Inc. is piloting a new ride type in the US that will match female riders and drivers, expanding access to a safety feature it already offers in some international markets. The service will launch in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit over the next few weeks, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Riders will see a new on-demand ride option called 'Women Drivers' alongside the existing UberX, Comfort, UberXL and Black offerings. Customers can reserve such a trip in advance, or set their preference in the app settings to increase the likelihood of being matched with a woman driver. Female drivers, who make up about 1 in 5 of Uber's US driver population, can similarly choose that preference in the settings of their driver app. Drivers' eligibility for the program will be based on the gender listed on their license. For riders, it will be determined by their first name or whether they specified their gender as female on their Uber profile. 'It's about giving women more choice, more control, and more comfort when they ride and drive,' said Camiel Irving, vice president of operations in the US and Canada. Cities that have a bigger population of women drivers will be the ones that get the feature sooner, she said, but added that the three options are designed to allow different ways of matching without compromising wait times and service availability. The company also sees the option as a way to attract more female drivers to the platform. 'The product is really popular whenever we're able to launch it,' said Irving. 'Our expectation is that it's going to be just as popular in the US both with drivers and with prospective drivers.' The introduction of the feature comes nearly two years after rival Lyft Inc. introduced a similar offering in the US, underscoring a tit-for-tat competition between the two rideshare apps to win over customers with features tailored to certain demographics. Earlier this year, for instance, the two companies rolled out simplified versions of their apps for elderly riders in close succession. In May, Uber also introduced a $2.99 monthly pass aimed at commuters that lets users lock in prices for for favorite routes. The launch came months after Lyft debuted a similar product. However, unlike Lyft's women-matching program, which also includes non-binary users, Uber's product is solely for those with commonly identifiable feminine names or those who identify as female in the app. The company has had 'a couple of conversations' with LGBTQ organizations and concluded this 'is not quite the right way to serve the non-binary population right now,' Irving said in an interview. Uber launched the matching feature for female drivers in Saudi Arabia in 2019 to mark a landmark decision that granted women the right to drive. Since then, it said, it's completed more than 100 million such trips having expanded the feature to drivers in 40 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India and Mexico. It has also tested the feature for riders in Germany and France. Lung writes for Bloomberg.
TechCrunch
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- TechCrunch
Uber is finally letting women riders in the US match with women drivers
Six years ago, 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. In a few weeks, this feature will finally make its way to the United States, the company said on Wednesday. Uber plans to pilot the feature in Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Women will be able to 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.' This setting can be changed if the driver wants to receive trip requests from all riders. Ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft have grappled with ways to improve safety and attract the broadest set of users — both on the driver and rider sides. But it hasn't been an easy road. Ride-hailing 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 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 still made up a tiny 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. Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They're here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don't miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | REGISTER NOW Sexual assault incidents have dropped consistently since Uber began reporting the data in 2017. Uber reported 5,981 sexual assaults from 2017 to 2018, and that figure dropped by more than half to 2,717 in the 2021 to 2022 period. Meanwhile, Uber and Lyft have sought ways to attract more female drivers. Both companies have more male drivers than women — for instance, about 1 in 5 of Uber drivers in the U.S. are women. The 'women preferences' feature, designed to give both the rider and driver some control, could help attract more users on both sides. Uber was the first major ride-hailing company to launch the women preferences feature. However, rival Lyft was the first to offer a women-matching feature in the United States — its primary market.
