Safety features built into every ride
We’re dedicated to building a platform where women feel safe. That’s why we partner with and learn from women who use our app, women’s safety experts, and advocates to build innovative safety features and policies that empower our community of users.
Rider accounts
We have checks and safeguards in place that help promote confident pickups and build safe communities for drivers. For instance, before a rider uses Uber, they must provide a valid payment method and use their phone number or email address to register.
Phone number anonymization
Privacy and contact information are protected when users reach out to one another while using the Uber app. Phone numbers are anonymized, and any other contact details will remain hidden.
Follow My Ride/Share My Trip
Friends and family can follow trips in real time, so drivers, riders, and their loved ones can feel more confident from pickup to dropoff.
RideCheck®
Using sensors and GPS data, this feature can help detect if a trip doesn’t go as planned. We’ll check in to make sure the driver and rider are safe and provide easy access to emergency assistance features for immediate help if needed.
24/7 support
We’re committed to supporting riders and drivers with empathy and care in times of need. If an incident occurs, in-app support is available around the clock. Our specialized team of safety agents are trained to handle sensitive reports and can offer support resources.
Emergency assistance
The in-app Emergency Button is available to connect riders and drivers to their local emergency number with the simple tap of a button. The app displays location and trip details, so drivers and riders can quickly share them with emergency services.
Stay in control with Women Preferences
Women drivers and riders have told us they want even more choice and control over how they drive and ride. So we’ve designed features to let women have the option to be matched with other women on trips.
These features are available in select cities, starting with Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
- How will it work?
We’re adding new options to the app to help women riders and drivers match with each other.
- Riders can choose Women Drivers when requesting or reserving a trip or set a preference to increase their chances of getting matched with a woman driver when requesting an UberX or Uber Green trip.
- Drivers can toggle on Women Rider Preference in their app settings and increase their chances of matching with women riders. They can toggle this option on or off whenever they want.
- Who can use these new options?
These new preferences were designed for women riders and drivers. For riders, we’ll use technology to try to determine their gender based on their first name. For drivers, we’ll use the gender information on their government-issued identification.
If a rider’s or driver’s gender in the Uber app is incorrect, they can update it:
- Riders can update it by going to Account, then Settings, then selecting their name at the top and updating the Personal info section.
- Drivers can update their gender in the settings of Uber’s Driver app by going to Menu > Settings > Manage Uber account > Personal Info > Gender.
- Does this guarantee that women riders and drivers will be matched with another woman?
While we’ll do our best to match riders and drivers based on their preference when these options are selected, we can't guarantee a match every time. Because there are fewer women drivers on the platform than men drivers, availability may be limited and can vary by time and location.
- Where are these features available?
In the US, we’re currently piloting Women Preferences for riders and drivers in select cities, starting with Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Women Rider Preference for drivers is already live in 40 countries, and we’re testing the suite of rider-focused Women Preferences in a handful of countries around the world.
- Can riders and drivers change their preference at any time?
Yes, riders and drivers can turn their preference on or off at any time, as many times as they’d like. If they’re not getting trip options that meet their needs, they can update their preference at any point to explore different options.
- What does this mean for men riders and drivers?
Their Uber experience won’t change; men riders will still be able to request trips and be matched with both men and women, and men drivers will continue to be able to accept any trip they’d like that they get offered.
- Can transgender and non-binary riders and drivers use Women Preferences?
This feature is available only to riders and drivers whose gender is set to Woman in the Uber app or the Driver app.
- Will this increase wait times for riders?
Riders using Women Preferences may experience longer wait times if women drivers are unavailable or farther away. If so, the rider can choose to wait, reserve a ride with a woman driver for a later time, or choose a ride with any available driver that may not match their preference.
- Can women riders bring guests with them?
Yes, women riders can bring guests with them when requesting a trip with a woman driver. We ask that the woman rider requesting the trip always be in the vehicle with their guest riders. However, if a woman rider chooses Women Drivers when requesting a trip and brings a man rider, the woman driver can cancel the trip.
- Will there be a difference in the price for Women Drivers trips?
While we aim to keep Women Drivers trips priced comparably to similar trips, all Uber trip prices are influenced by a variety of factors—including time, distance, driver availability, and demand. If a woman driver is farther from the pickup location than a man driver, or demand is higher than usual, the price of the trip may vary.
- Will this limit women drivers’ trip options?
Depending on rider demand, it’s possible that women drivers using the Women Rider Preference feature may receive fewer trip opportunities than they did before using this feature. If no nearby trip requests match a woman driver’s preference, they can toggle the preference off and receive other trip requests, or they can choose to wait for a trip that does meet their preference.
- What happens if the rider doesn’t match a driver’s preference?
If at pickup the driver believes that a rider doesn’t match the driver’s preference, the driver can cancel the trip by selecting I expected a woman rider as the reason.
“I love driving with Uber because I have access to 24/7 live support, which is great because I like to drive at night. As a female driver, Uber has my back.”
Carolyn, Georgia, US, 7 years driving with Uber
Our Community Guidelines prohibit sexual assault and sexual misconduct of any kind while using Uber. Personal space and privacy should be respected, period. If something happens, you can report it to Uber in the app during or after your trip. We'll take appropriate action to help keep our platform safe.
An individual’s safety is a shared responsibility. Because of that, we partner with organizations like NO MORE on sexual assault prevention tips and raising awareness of the important role all of us play in looking out for one another’s safety.
Partnering on Safety
Thanks to the feedback from women drivers, experts, and advocates,Uber develops educational content and partnerships with community groups on safety.
Education
We have learned from our partners that education can help get to the root of tough safety issues in a way that emergency interventions cannot. That’s why we’ve made it easy to access educational materials and safety tips through the in-app Safety Toolkit and driver learning center, and why we launch proactive campaigns and initiatives like Stand Up, Don’t Stand By. We are committed to continuing to provide safety education opportunities for our users globally, including sexual assault and sexual misconduct prevention and awareness education.
Women’s Safety Pledge
Uber is committed to helping to end gender-based violence on our platform and in the communities we serve. Globally we strive to partner with experts and advocates on raising awareness, offering education and resources, and designing products and policies that are trauma informed and survivor centered.
Classifying incidents
Staying accountable means numbers matter. That’s why we partnered with the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the Urban Institute, and RALIANCE to create a taxonomy to categorize and count sexual assault incidents and produce a first-of-its-kind safety report. This report and related data tracking help us shape policies. You can find out more about the report here.
Meet some of our local partners
We’ve collaborated with many organizations dedicated to raising awareness, offering resources, and fighting the proliferation of violence against women.
NO MORE is dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault by increasing awareness, inspiring action, and fueling cultural change for the better.
Ujima Inc. serves as a national, culturally specific resource center to provide support to the Black community in response to domestic, sexual, and community violence.
RALIANCE partners with a wide range of organizations to improve their cultures and create environments free from sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse.
As the largest sexual violence prevention organization in the US, RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
Rise is a civil rights accelerator that has trained hundreds of rape survivors on how to pen their own civil rights into existence.
The National Network to End Domestic Violence is a leading voice for domestic violence victims and their advocates and provides critical thought leadership on the intersecting needs of survivors.
The National Alliance to End Sexual Violence provides a missing voice for state coalitions and local programs advocating and organizing against sexual violence and for survivors.
Driving Change: Uber’s global effort to help end gender-based violence
Uber is committed to taking a stand against gender-based violence. Through the Driving Change initiative, we’ve partnered with advocates and experts to help improve safety in our industry and communities. Driving Change provides funding to organizations working to prevent gender-based violence worldwide. Learn more about this initiative and our partners here.
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