The Button Women Riders Have Been Waiting For—Uber's Women-Matching Feature Arrives In The U.S.

Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) is piloting a long-requested safety feature that allows women riders to request female drivers — and vice versa — for the first time in the U.S., the company announced on Wednesday.

The feature, called ‘Women Preferences,' will debut in Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco in the coming weeks. First introduced in Saudi Arabia in 2019, the option has already expanded to 40 countries, including India, Canada, Brazil, and Mexico.

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How the Matching Works

Once enabled, the setting allows female riders to see a ‘women drivers' option when hailing a ride. Uber said the setting increases the likelihood of being matched with a female driver, although matches aren't guaranteed.

On the driver's side, female drivers can select ‘women rider preference,' allowing them to receive trip requests only from women. The setting is flexible and can be toggled off or on anytime. More than 100 million rides have been completed using the service globally, according to the company.

A Push for Safety and Inclusion

The launch comes amid ongoing pressure on ride-hailing platforms to improve safety for both passengers and drivers.

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According to Uber's latest U.S. safety report, there were 36 physical assault fatalities and 2,717 reported sexual assaults across 1.8 billion trips during 2021 and 2022. While these incidents account for a small fraction of all trips, those incidents — combined with ongoing concerns about physical assault — have pushed Uber to expand its suite of safety features in recent years, including audio/video recording and verified rider badges.

Sexual assault reports have declined significantly since Uber began publishing data in 2017. From 2017 to 2018, there were 5,981 reports of sexual assault. That number dropped to 2,717 between 2021 and 2022.

Uber and rival Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) have struggled to increase the number of female drivers on their platforms. About 20% of Uber drivers in the U.S. are women, according to data provided by the company to Business Insider. The new feature could help close that gap by giving drivers more control over whom they pick up — a step that may help attract more women to the platform.

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A Broader Industry Shift

While Uber was the first to launch the feature globally, Lyft beat it to the U.S. market with its ‘Women+ Connect' tool, introduced in 2023, a feature allowing women and nonbinary drivers and riders to prioritize matches with one another. Unlike Uber's version, Lyft doesn't guarantee these matches but prioritizes them when possible. Still, the company said 67% of eligible drivers have opted into the feature. 

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," Uber Vice President of Operations Camiel Irving said in a statement.

If the pilot sees high adoption, Uber said it may expand the feature nationally.

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