Uber has finally, finally allowed women and non-binary drivers and riders to set a filter specifying that they’d like to be matched only with other women and non-binary folks. It’s a feature that women and non-binary people have been clamoring for.
The “Women Preferences” feature, as Uber has termed it, will come first to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit sometime “in the next few weeks.” It’s vague, but it hints at a short-term wait.
for riders and drivers both, eventually
“Women drivers will soon have the option to request trips with women riders…” reads Uber’s press announcement. The word “soon” reappears here again, and so we’re not sure how long it’ll be before drivers can use the feature.
Using the feature as a rider seems simple. Alongside the usual options of UberX, UberXL, Uber Comfort, and the like, there will be an option titled Women Drivers. It’ll show the estimated wait time and cost, just as it does for those other options.
Women Rider Preferences launched in Saudi Arabia in 2019, and then it rolled out to 40 more countries. Why it took so long to come to the US, only Uber knows.
“Uber cannot guarantee that all users you are matched with while using this feature will be women, or appear in a way that you would identify as a woman,” Uber warns.
If you’d previously set your driver account only to pick up women riders and you arrive only to find that you believe your customer isn’t female or non-binary, you can cancel the ride and for the cancellation reason select “I selected trips with women riders.”
“Some women users may not express their gender or appear in a way that matches your perception of ‘femininity,’” Uber also says as a reminder that while some may try to abuse the feature to deceive, others are acting in good faith, so be kind.
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