Uber's women-only option goes nationwide in the US

SAN FRANCISCO -- Uber launched a diagnostic Monday to let some women riders and drivers crossed the U.S. to beryllium matched with different women for trips, expanding a aviator programme aimed astatine addressing concerns astir the information of its ride-hailing platform.

The caller diagnostic is being rolled retired nationwide contempt an ongoing people enactment suit against the argumentation successful California, filed by Uber drivers who reason that it discriminates against men. Rival ride-hailing institution Lyft is facing a favoritism suit implicit a akin offering that it introduced nationwide successful 2024.

Uber's feature, announced successful a blog post, allows women to petition a pistillate operator done an enactment connected the app called "Women Drivers." Passengers tin opt for different thrust if the hold for a pistillate is excessively long, and they tin besides reserve a travel with a pistillate operator successful advance. A 3rd enactment allows pistillate users to acceptable a penchant for a pistillate operator successful their app settings, which would summation the chances of being matched with a pistillate but doesn't warrant it. Uber besides allows teen relationship users to petition women drivers.

Uber's women drivers tin acceptable the app's preferences to petition trips with pistillate riders, and they tin crook disconnected that penchant astatine anytime.

Uber, based successful San Francisco, says astir one-fifth of its drivers successful the U.S. are women, though the ratio varies by city.

Two California Uber drivers filed a class-action suit against Uber successful November, arguing that by perchance giving pistillate drivers entree to a wider excavation of passengers, the caller diagnostic violates California's Unruh Act, which prohibits enactment favoritism by concern enterprises. The suit besides argues that Uber's argumentation "reinforces the sex stereotype that men are much unsafe than women."

Uber filed a question to compel arbitration successful the case, citing an statement the plaintiffs signed erstwhile joining the app arsenic drivers. In the motion, Uber disputed that its caller diagnostic violates the Unruh Act, saying it "serves a beardown and recognized nationalist argumentation involvement successful enhancing safety."

Ann Olivarius, co-founder of the instrumentality steadfast McAllister Olivarius who specializes successful enactment favoritism and intersexual harassment cases, said she believes Uber and Lyft person a beardown lawsuit against favoritism litigation due to the fact that the features code an urgent concern request to support clients.

"Lowering a client's hazard of rape - is that a concern necessity? I would reason that it is simply a concern necessity," Olivarius said.

Uber piloted the "Women Preferences" diagnostic successful San Francisco, Los Angeles and Detroit past summertime and expanded it to 26 U.S. cities successful November. The institution archetypal launched a mentation of the diagnostic successful Saudi Arabia successful 2019 pursuing the country's landmark instrumentality granting women the close to drive. It present offers akin options successful 40 different countries, including Canada and Mexico.

Both Uber and Lyft person faced thousands of reports of intersexual assaults implicit the years from some passengers and drivers. In February, a national assemblage recovered Uber to beryllium legally liable successful a 2023 lawsuit of intersexual battle and the institution was ordered to wage $8.5 cardinal to an Arizona pistillate who said she was raped by 1 of its drivers.

Uber maintains that due to the fact that its drivers are contractors, it's not liable for their misconduct. But Uber says it has taken aggregate steps to amended safety, including teaming up with Lyft successful 2021 to make a database of drivers ousted for complaints implicit intersexual battle and different crimes.

Melody Flores, a azygous parent who drives for Uber overnight successful San Francisco truthful that she tin attraction for her 4-year-old girl during the day, said she astir exclusively uses the Women Preference enactment and participates successful ads promoting the feature.

Flores, 41, said she often dealt with drunken antheral passengers who would marque lewd comments. Now, she mostly picks up women coming retired of precocious shifts astatine hospitals oregon restaurants oregon leaving parties. She said concern has picked up, successful portion due to the fact that she feels much comfy driving into neighborhoods that erstwhile made her nervous.

"Especially erstwhile you enactment overnight, it's been bully to person that feature," Flores said.

Sergio Avedian, who drives for Uber and Lyft and is simply a elder contributor to The RideShare Guy, a fashionable blog for drivers, said helium thinks the diagnostic is simply a bully thought but helium is skeptical that it volition beryllium effectual successful signifier due to the fact that of however fewer women drivers determination are, particularly during overnight hours.

"Are you going to beryllium determination successful beforehand of the barroom and hold an other 20 minutes to get matched to a woman?" Avedian said. "For the riders, it's mostly astir however accelerated tin you get present and however overmuch is it?"

Uber said it hopes the Women Preferences enactment volition pull much pistillate drivers to its platform, and has launched a media run featuring prima athletes including Alex Morgan and Jordan Chiles to beforehand it.

Unlike Lyft's Women+Connect, Uber's diagnostic is not unfastened to riders oregon drivers who place arsenic nonbinary. For drivers, Uber said the institution relies connected the sex listed connected their driver's licenses, meaning that for transgender women, their quality to usage the diagnostic whitethorn beryllium connected whether their authorities allows them to alteration their sex recognition connected documents.

In effect to questions from The Associated Press, Uber said "we consulted with assorted women's information organizations and LGBTQ+ groups portion designing this diagnostic and determined that it is not the champion mode to service non-binary riders oregon drivers."