Uber to pilot women-only ride option in the US for safer travel experience

Uber has launched a women-only ride option in the US, starting in Los Angeles, allowing women riders and drivers to choose each other for a safer travel experience

Uber has announced the launch of a new feature in the US aimed at "improving safety and confidence for women" using its platform. The initiative, called Women Preferences, will allow women riders and drivers to choose to be matched with other women.

 

The move comes in response to feedback from women users who expressed a desire for more control over their ride experience. "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," the company said in a statement.

 

Uber's new feature: How it works

 

Women riders will now have more flexibility in choosing who they travel with. The company said: 

• On-demand requests: When booking a ride, women will see an option labelled Women Drivers. If there is a delay, they can still opt for the next available driver regardless of gender.
• Advance booking: The Reserve feature allows women to pre-schedule rides specifically with women drivers, offering more certainty in planning.
• Set preferences: Riders can also enable a Women Driver Preference in their app settings. Although not guaranteed, this increases their chances of being matched with a woman driver. 

More earning options for women drivers

 

Women drivers will also benefit from the update. They will now have the option to accept ride requests only from women passengers, especially useful during high-demand periods such as evenings.

 

"Women drivers can simply toggle on the ‘Women Rider Preference’ in their app settings," Uber explained. "If they want to receive trip requests from all riders, they can turn the preference off at any time."

Built on global experience

 

Uber first tried a similar feature in Saudi Arabia in 2019, shortly after the country lifted its ban on women drivers. The company reported that the response was "overwhelmingly positive".

 

Since then, the feature has expanded to 40 countries and has supported more than 100 million rides. Uber noted that making the feature practical and effective — especially in regions where the majority of drivers are men — required extensive testing and refinement.

 

"We tested, listened, and refined it in markets like Germany and France, adapting the feature to real-world rider and driver behaviours," the company stated. "As a result, in a first for the industry, we’re able to launch more reliable features that offer women riders multiple ways to be matched with a woman driver."

Looking ahead

 

The pilot programme will begin in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit in the coming weeks. Uber says it will continue to improve the service through user education, partnerships, and feature development as it expands across the United States.

 

“At Uber, we believe that when we make our platform better for women, we make it better for everyone,” the company said.

Women-driver only models in India

 

Several dedicated platforms and some major ride-hailing services offer the option to request women drivers for women (and occasionally children or elderly) passengers in India. These include:-

 

Platform	City/Region	Type	Booking Method	Key Details
Sakha Cabs	Delhi, Jaipur	Cab (Car)	Website, Phone	All-women drivers; exclusively for women, children, and elderly
She Taxi	Kerala	Cab (Car)	Website, Phone, WhatsApp	Women drivers and riders only
Priyadarshini Taxi	Mumbai	Cab (Car)	Phone, Website	Women drivers; for women passengers
Go Pink Cabs	Bengaluru	Cab (Car)	Phone, Website	Exclusively women drivers/passengers
SheCab Dehradun	Dehradun	Cab (Car)	Phone, Website	All-women service
Taxshe	Bengaluru/Chennai	Cab (Car)	Website, Phone	For women and children; women drivers
She Scooty	Select cities	Scooter/Bike	Website	Scooty taxis for women, by women
Dovely	Hyderabad	Bike Taxi	App	Bike-taxi exclusively for women
Fery Rides	Select cities	Scooter/Bike	App (Android)	Women-driven scooty taxis for women
Women Rider	Select cities	Car & Two-wheeler	App (Android)	App-based rides -- women drivers, women riders

  Besides the above, women passengers can request women drivers for bike-taxi rides using Uber Moto Women (Bengaluru).  The app also offers drivers the choice to accept only women riders. While Ola does not have a dedicated “women only” booking option in its main app, some women drivers operate on the platform, but the option to request a woman driver specifically is not generally available in the app.