Why it matters:
Uber will begin piloting a new feature next month that allows women riders and drivers to opt into being matched only with other women. Launching in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit, the feature is positioned as a way to increase comfort, control and safety, especially in light of ongoing scrutiny around harassment and assault on ride-hailing platforms.

🔑 Key Takeaways

Uber’s new preference tool builds on earlier rollouts in markets like Saudi Arabia, France and Argentina, and follows a similar move by Lyft in 2023.
While women can set a preference to be paired with other women, Uber notes that same-gender matching is not guaranteed - this could impact user trust in the feature.
Framed as a tool for empowerment and safety, the update responds to long-standing feedback from women users, and may help improve driver retention, with only around 20% of Uber’s U.S. drivers currently being women (Uber, 2015).
Legal and ethical questions could arise around exclusion, algorithmic fairness, and access for nonbinary users, especially if the feature is rolled out more widely.
The success of this pilot will depend on clear communication, user education, and consistent UX - if buried in app settings, adoption could be low.
Strategically, this positions Uber as a brand responding to user concerns with tangible tools rather than statements, but the perception of this as a reactive rather than proactive move may persist.
Brands beyond ride-hailing can learn from Uber’s approach: offering user choice, building for trust, and enabling personal agency can strengthen loyalty in safety-sensitive environments.