Uber Rolls Out Women-Only Ride Matching in Detroit To Tackle Safety Issues

A new safety option from Uber now matches women riders with female drivers in Detroit. The city joins two others in testing this "Women Preferences" feature, which started this week.

Through a simple app setting, women can now pick female drivers for their trips. The update works both ways: women behind the wheel can opt to transport only female passengers.

"I like having an option where as a driver, I can literally just turn it on and say, women passengers only," said Liesel Letzmann, a Detroit-based Uber driver, to Fox 2 Detroit.

The test runs in Detroit, San Francisco, and Los Angeles come as Uber faces legal challenges. A current class action suit in California's Northern District Court claims the company fell short in addressing assault cases.

The numbers tell a stark story. Uber recorded 6,000-plus assault cases in 2017-2018. This dropped to 3,864 in 2019-2020. Most striking: 99.4% of these cases involved drivers with female passengers.

Early signs point to success. Letzmann noticed a shift in her customer base. "It definitely seems to be a higher percentage of female riders than I've typically had in the last few weeks," she noted.

The U.S. launch follows a 2019 test in Saudi Arabia. After six years of data and user input, Uber brought the feature stateside, pushed by feedback from women users.

Users now get extra protection through trip recording, route tracking, and direct links to safety teams. Not to be left behind, Lyft launched its own version called Women+ Connect last year.

The system checks driver gender partly through name verification. Women can lock in their choice for female drivers through their settings, making each ride more predictable.