Uber is rolling out a new feature aimed at improving safety and comfort for women on its platform. Starting next month, the ride-hailing company will pilot a tool in select U.S. cities that allows women drivers and riders to request same-gender matches.
The program will launch in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit, and will give women passengers the ability to set a preference to be paired with female drivers when booking or pre-scheduling rides. Likewise, women drivers can choose to be matched only with women riders.
“It’s about giving women more choice, more control, and more comfort when they ride and drive,” said Camiel Irving, Uber’s vice president of U.S. and Canada operations, in a statement.
While the preference cannot be guaranteed, Uber says it significantly increases the likelihood of same-gender matches through the app.
This isn’t the first time Uber has explored gender-based matching. In 2019, the company introduced a similar feature in Saudi Arabia after women gained the legal right to drive, later expanding it to around 40 countries. A 2015 company survey found that only about 20% of U.S. Uber drivers were women.
The new initiative is part of a broader push by Uber and other ride-hailing companies to address ongoing safety concerns, including reports of harassment and sexual assault. Over the years, Uber has implemented several safety-focused features, such as teen-specific accounts, PIN verification, and driver/rider ID checks.
Uber tested the women-only matching feature in countries like France, Germany, and Argentina before bringing it to the U.S.
Rival company Lyft launched a similar gender-preference feature in late 2023, allowing women and nonbinary users to request to be matched with drivers or riders who share their gender identity.
