Uber has launched a new feature across the U.S., enabling women riders and drivers to be matched exclusively with other women for trips, expanding a pilot program designed to address safety concerns on its ride-hailing platform.
The nationwide rollout proceeds despite an ongoing class-action lawsuit in California, which alleges the policy discriminates against men. Rival company Lyft is also facing a discrimination lawsuit over a similar offering introduced in 2024.
The feature, detailed in a company blog post, provides several options for users. Women passengers can request a female driver via an in-app option called "Women Drivers."
If the wait time is too long, they can choose a different ride or reserve a trip with a female driver in advance. A third setting allows female users to set a preference for a woman driver, increasing the likelihood of such a match without guaranteeing it.
Uber is also extending this option to its teen account users. Conversely, women drivers can adjust their app preferences to accept trips exclusively from female riders, and can disable this setting at any time. Uber, headquartered in San Francisco, states that approximately one-fifth of its U.S. drivers are women, though this ratio varies by city.
The class-action lawsuit against Uber was filed in November by two California drivers. They contend that the "Women Preferences" feature violates California’s Unruh Act, which prohibits sex discrimination by businesses.
The lawsuit argues that the policy grants minority female drivers access to the entire pool of passengers, while forcing majority male drivers to compete for a smaller pool. Furthermore, the suit claims Uber’s policy "reinforces the gender stereotype that men are more dangerous than women."
Uber has filed a motion to compel arbitration in the case, citing an agreement signed by the plaintiffs upon joining the platform. In its filing, Uber disputes any violation of the Unruh Act, asserting that the feature "serves a strong and recognized public policy interest in enhancing safety."
The company stated in court documents, "This feature is a common sense solution to a long-standing request from both women Drivers and Riders who told Uber they would feel more comfortable and safer if they could choose to ride with another woman."
A similar lawsuit has been filed against Lyft by two of its drivers concerning its "Women+Connect" feature, which allows women and nonbinary riders to match with drivers of the same identification.
Uber initially piloted its "Women Preferences" feature in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Detroit last summer, expanding it to 26 U.S. cities by November. The company first introduced a version of this feature in Saudi Arabia in 2019, following the country's decision to grant women the right to drive. Similar options are now available in 40 other countries, including Canada and Mexico.
Both Uber and Lyft have for years faced criticism over their safety records, including thousands of reports of sexual assaults from both passengers and drivers. In February, federal jury found Uber to be legally responsible in a 2023 case of sexual assault and the company was ordered to pay $8.5 million to an Arizona woman who said she was raped by one of its drivers.
Uber maintains that because its drivers are contractors and not employees, it’s not liable for their misconduct. But Uber says has taken multiple steps in efforts to improve safety, including teaming up with Lyft in 2021 to create a database of drivers ousted from their ride-hailing services for complaints over sexual assault and other crimes.
Uber says sexual assault reports have decreased over the years. According to reports from Uber, 5,981 incidents of sexual assault were reported in U.S. rides between 2017 and 2018 — compared to 2,717 between 2021 and 2022 (the latest years with data available), which the platform says represented 0.0001% of total trips nationwide.
