Rideshare services are helpful for people who don't have their own vehicles, but no matter how convenient, the fact remains that riders are picked up by complete strangers. There have been a lot of cases where women and non-binary individuals have been harassed, and Lyft is launching Women Plus Connect to avoid that.
Women Plus Connect
Lyft is making an effort to make sure that its riders remain comfortable and safe as their services are called on, particularly for women and non-binary riders. This is in response to the increasing reports of harassment and sexual assault the mentioned group has been experiencing.
The Women Plus Connect is an in-app feature that "matches women and nonbinary drivers with more women and nonbinary riders." The option can be turned on within the Lyft app, allowing the group to prioritize matches accordingly, as reported by The Verge.
This, however, does not guarantee the preferred drivers. It only increases the chances of getting a driver within the same group. In the event that there are no female or non-binary individuals for the job, the app will have to pair riders with male drivers.
Executive Vice President and Head of Design at Lyft, Audrey Liu says that "Everyone' gender is very personal. If someone goes through the steps to change their gender in the app, we are going to assume that is how they identify."
She added that inclusivity is a core value at the ridesharing company and that they are committed to creating a community in which "riders and drivers feel as though they are included and belong."
Senior Communications Manager at the company, CJ Macklin states that the feature is based on the gender marker on the driver's license on file, as well as the gender settings within the app. The feature allows drivers and users to update their gender settings within the app.
The protective feature has been highly requested by Lyft customers, which provides more control over both riding and driving experiences. Uber, on the other hand, already launched a similar preferred service feature back in 2022.
Uber's Women Rider Preference
Uber's feature is mainly a way to tailor driver experiences for women and non-binary driver-partners. The company has received requests from the gender groups to only receive trip requests from women riders, ergo, the Women Rider Preference feature.
In order to activate it in the Uber app, users can head to Account, and then Security and Privacy to select Gender Identity, which can be updated by tapping on the pencil icon and entering their gender details. In some areas, the drivers will have to sign a Gender Declaration Form.
If the driver finds that the rider is not actually a woman, they have the option to cancel the trip without affecting their cancellation rate. All they have to do is tap on "I selected trips with women riders" as the cancellation reason.
The driver can turn the feature off any time they want through the toggle on the Women Rider Preference page. All they have to do is go to Trip Schedule, select Driving Preferences, and toggle Women Riders off.
