Uber gives women a new way to feel safer on rides, rolls out feature in 30 US cities

Women can now choose female Uber drivers

Uber just made it easier for women to ride with women.

On November 12, 2025, the company announced its Women Preferences feature would expand from 5 pilot cities to more than 30 across the United States.

Women can now request female drivers on-demand, book them in advance, or set a default preference in the app.

Teens can use it too.

The feature came after years of alarming safety reports, including more than 400,000 incidents of sexual assault or misconduct between 2017 and 2022.

Three Ways to Match With Women

Women riders now have options.

When requesting a trip, they can tap a button called Women Drivers to be matched with a female driver. If the wait is too long, they can switch back.

They can also use Uber’s Reserve feature to book a woman driver in advance for trips like airport runs or late-night rides.

The third option is a setting in the app that increases the chances of being matched with a woman on every ride.

None of these guarantee a female driver, but they make it more likely.

Drivers Can Choose Too

The feature works both ways. Women drivers can turn on a setting called Women Rider Preference that sends them requests only from female passengers.

They can toggle it on during evening hours when they feel less comfortable picking up men, then switch it off during the day.

Uber says this gives women more control over how they earn.

The company hopes the option will attract more women to drive, since only about 20% of its U.S. drivers are female.

Teens Get Access for First Time

Parents pushed hard for this. Since Uber launched teen accounts in 2022, parents kept asking for a way to request women drivers for their kids.

Now, in cities where both teen accounts and Women Preferences are available, teenagers can request female drivers on their own.

Parents booking rides for their teens will also see the option.

Teen accounts already have extra safety features, including PIN verification before the trip starts and real-time tracking for guardians.

It Started in Saudi Arabia

Uber launched the program in 2019 in Saudi Arabia, right after the country passed a law allowing women to drive for the first time.

The response was so positive that Uber expanded it to 40 countries over the next several years. But bringing it to the United States took longer.

Most Uber drivers are men, and the company needed to make sure the feature would actually work in cities where female drivers are scarce.

They tested it in Germany and France before launching the U.S. pilot in July 2025.

One Report Every Eight Minutes

The numbers are hard to ignore. Between 2017 and 2022, Uber received more than 400,000 reports of sexual assault or misconduct in the United States.

That works out to roughly one report every eight minutes.

The company had publicly disclosed only about 12,500 serious incidents for that period. The larger number came out through court documents in ongoing litigation.

About three-quarters of the reports involved less serious incidents like inappropriate comments or staring, but that still leaves more than 100,000 serious reports.

Women Were 89% of Victims

Uber’s safety report covering 2021 and 2022 documented 2,717 reports of serious sexual assault. In 91% of rape cases, riders were the victims.

Women made up 89% of survivors, while men accounted for 8%. Drivers were the accused party in 92% of incidents.

The company says reports of serious sexual assault dropped 44% between 2017 and 2022, but critics point out that Uber operates at such a massive scale.

Not Enough Women Behind the Wheel

The feature only works if there are enough women to match with. Right now, women make up about 20% of Uber drivers in the United States.

That means wait times could be longer for riders who want a female driver, especially late at night or in smaller cities.

Uber is betting that the new feature will attract more women to the platform.

If women drivers know they can choose to pick up only female passengers during evening hours, they might be more willing to sign up.

Lyft Got There First

Uber was not the first to try this. Lyft launched its Women+ Connect program in September 2023, starting in Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose.

The program expanded nationwide by February 2024.

Lyft says drivers who turn on Women+ Connect keep the feature on 99% of the time, and nearly 7 million rides have been completed through the program.

Women and nonbinary drivers using the feature are now matched with women and nonbinary riders about 66% of the time, up from 50% before the program launched.

Male Drivers Sue Over Discrimination

On November 5, 2025, four male drivers filed class-action lawsuits in California. Two sued Uber, two sued Lyft.

They claim the programs violate the Unruh Civil Rights Act, a California law that prohibits sex discrimination by businesses.

The drivers argue they receive fewer rides because women can now exclude them, which cuts into their earnings. They also say the programs reinforce the stereotype that men are more dangerous than women.

$4,000 Per Driver at Stake

The lawsuits seek $4,000 in damages for every male driver in California who was affected by the programs. With hundreds of thousands of male drivers in the state, that could add up fast.

The plaintiffs say male drivers make up about 75% of all rideshare drivers but now have access to only half the potential rider pool.

Uber and Lyft have not commented on the lawsuits. Both companies have defended the programs as responses to what riders and drivers were asking for.

Safety vs. Discrimination in Court

The lawsuits put two values in direct conflict. Women riders say the feature makes them feel safer, especially late at night or after drinking.

One frequent user told reporters she had uncomfortable experiences with male drivers before and now uses Women Preferences on every ride.

But the male drivers argue that their sex should not determine which passengers they can pick up.

A federal judge overseeing more than 2,000 sexual assault cases against Uber suggested earlier this year that the lack of a gender-matching feature might have exposed the company to liability.

Now, having the feature might expose them to a different kind.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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