A “Women Drivers” option is now available when booking Uber rides in Pittsburgh.
First piloted this summer with the goal of giving women more options in how they ride and drive, Uber said it has received feedback that the option gives riders and drivers “more comfort and confidence on every trip.”
Pittsburgh was one of a 26-city expansion of “Women Preferences” in mid-November in the United States.
The option can be utilized via the Uber app.
There are three ways to choose trips with women drivers on the app, according to Uber. Users will see the option “Women Drivers” when requesting an on-demand trip or reserving rides in advance.
Additionally, riders can set a preference for a women driver in their app settings by turning on the “Women Preference.” Uber said this increases riders’ chances of being matched with a woman driver.
These include younger riders with teen accounts on Uber.
Uber said drivers can also set preferences by switching on the “Women Rider Preference” in their app settings, which will allow them to start receiving trip requests from women riders. It can be turned off at any time if drivers want to once again receive trip requests from all riders.
“We’ll also be making the preference available to women drivers nationwide soon,” Uber said. “We believe this is an important step in bringing more women onto the Uber platform to earn on their terms and support existing women drivers as we look to expand women-only options for riders nationwide.”
Another popular ride-hailing service, Lyft, has a women drivers option available in the Pittsburgh area as well called “Women Connect.”
According to the app, it’s for women or nonbinary riders so they can choose to be matched with women or nonbinary drivers when available. There are three options: late night (9 p.m. to 6 a.m.), all rides whenever possible and no preference (opt out).
It can be changed at any time, the Lyft app says.
The option on Uber is currently available in the following locations in the U.S., according to Uber:
- Cleveland
- Columbus
- Baltimore
- Detroit
- Upstate NY
- Connecticut
- Rhode Island
- Hampton Roads
- Raleigh — Durham
- Charlotte
- Nashville
- St. Louis
- Chicago
- Milwaukee
- Jacksonville
- Orlando
- Tampa
- New Orleans
- Houston
- Dallas — Fort Worth
- San Antonio
- Denver
- Salt Lake City
- Phoenix
- Las Vegas
- Sacramento
- San Francisco
- Los Angeles
- San Diego
- Honolulu
Launched in 2019 in Saudi Arabia after the country lifted its ban on women driving, the program expanded to the United States this summer with pilot tests in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit.
“We’ve been listening to women riders and drivers around the world, and we’re building features to better serve them,” Uber said. “We’re excited to bring Women Preferences to more than two dozen cities and expect to launch it nationwide soon.”