Photo: WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Uber is rolling out a new feature in select cities to address safety concerns for women using the app.
Female riders would be able to request female drivers only, and female drivers would be able to request female riders only.
The feature will be tested in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit in the next few weeks. While Boston isn’t one of the pilot cities, Uber said it's planning to expand throughout the U.S. in the future.
Some women in Boston said they were mostly on board with the program.
“It sounds really safe. I would definitely use it, especially in the evenings if I’m alone,” said a woman in East Boston.
“If I was traveling alone, I would definitely be more comfortable with having a female driver,” said another woman in East Boston.
One woman seemed to have some concerns about the availability of female drivers in the first place.
“Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever even had a female Uber driver to be honest with you, and I’ve done Uber in a lot of cities, so I guess I’d be concerned [if] it’s gonna be a longer wait time,” she said.
With the new feature, women who requested a female driver can also choose a different ride if the wait time is longer than expected, according to Uber.
A male Uber driver in East Boston also seemed to support the change.
“They might feel more secure as a woman. I don’t mind, we’re still gonna get our route anyway,” he said. “It’s not gonna affect us.”
The feature was first launched in Saudi Arabia in 2019, when women were first allowed to drive. Now, the feature is already available in Mexico, Canada, India, parts of Western Europe, Australia and the majority of South America.
“Most drivers are men, so we’ve worked to ensure this feature was truly usable in different places around the world. We tested, listened, and refined it in markets like Germany and France, adapting the feature to real-world rider and driver behaviors. 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,” Uber said in an announcement on Wednesday.
WBZ’s James Rojas (@JamesRojas.bsky.social) reports.