--- title: What to Know About Uber’s New ‘Women Preferences’ Feature description: The new feature gives women passengers and drivers the option to ride with other women. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/03/09/uber-women-driver-passenger-feature/ author: Chantelle Lee article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-03-10T01:51:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-19T15:11:12.503Z article:section: Business og:title: What to Know About Uber’s New ‘Women Preferences’ Feature og:description: The new feature gives women passengers and drivers the option to ride with other women. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/03/09/uber-women-driver-passenger-feature/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77047910c285c1ca/69af7040785ca0f78acd4c4c/uber-woman-preference.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: uber-woman-preference.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What to Know About Uber’s New ‘Women Preferences’ Feature twitter:description: The new feature gives women passengers and drivers the option to ride with other women. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt77047910c285c1ca/69af7040785ca0f78acd4c4c/uber-woman-preference.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What to Know About Uber’s New ‘Women Preferences’ Feature by [Chantelle Lee](/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Mar 10, 2026 1:51 AM CUT  Serene Lee—SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images by [Chantelle Lee](/author/chantelle-lee/) ## Chantelle Lee Reporter Mar 10, 2026 1:51 AM CUT Uber has launched a program that gives women passengers and drivers the option to ride with other women—a new feature that comes after years of the ride-sharing app grappling with safety concerns and reports of sexual assault. The program, called “Women Preferences,” is being made available in cities across the U.S. starting on Monday, as well as in other cities globally. “When women riders and drivers told us they wanted more control over how they ride and earn, we listened,” Uber said in a [blog post](https://www.uber.com/us/en/newsroom/women-preferences-expands-nationwide/?uclick%5Fid=56c79c66-00e3-4ee9-9677-23f4fd49e595 "undefined"). “That feedback led to Women Preferences, features designed to give women the choice to ride with other women. Since our first pilots last summer, we’ve heard just how much that choice matters—from feeling more comfortable in the back seat to more confident behind the wheel.” Here’s what to know about the new feature. ## How does Women Preferences work? When a passenger is requesting a ride on the Uber app, they will now have the option to select “Women Drivers” in addition to other previously existing options like the standard UberX, according to the company’s blog post. The app will then match the rider with an available woman driver nearby. Uber said that if the wait time for a driver is too long, the rider can instead choose to select another ride expected to reach them sooner. Women drivers, meanwhile, can go to their preferences in the app and select the “Women Rider Preference” option in order to match with women passengers. ## Where is Women Preferences available? Drivers in more than 40 countries can utilize the Women Preferences option, according to Uber. For passengers, the feature is available in seven countries, including the U.S., Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Portugal, Brazil, and Spain. The company also indicated that it plans to continue to expand the program. “And we’re not done yet,” Uber said in its blog post. “We’ll continue listening, building, and increasing choice for women around the world.” ## Why did Uber launch the program? Uber said that it created the feature “because women asked for it.” The company said that it first created the program in 2019, after a new law passed in Saudi Arabia granted women the right to drive. Monday’s broad rollout of the program comes after years of concerns surrounding the safety of women riders and drivers on the app. Uber has [shared](https://uber.app.box.com/s/lea3xzb70bp2wxe3k3dgk2ghcyr687x3?uclick%5Fid=1c9e82ff-6c17-498b-aa73-63a52967b3ef "undefined") data in the past that showed that it received thousands of reports of sexual and misconduct over the years. In August, the [New York _Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/business/uber-sexual-assault.html "undefined")reported that on average, between 2017 and 2022, a sexual assault or misconduct was reported to the ride-sharing platform nearly every eight minutes in the U.S. alone. Uber did not directly reference those concerns when announcing the wider launch of the Women Preferences program on Monday. The company has previously said that reports of sexual assault on the app have dropped in recent years. In August, Hannah Nilles, Uber’s head of safety for the Americas, [said](https://www.uber.com/us/en/newsroom/ubers-safety-record/ "undefined") in a press release that the company has “invested billions of dollars and countless hours to reduce safety incidents during trips, particularly when it comes to sexual misconduct and assault.” In 2021, Uber and Lyft announced that they would collaborate to build a database of drivers who have been removed from the apps over reports of sexual assault and other misconduct. “Some have asked why we haven’t been able to stop more bad things from occurring,” Nilles said in the August press release. “With more than a billion Uber trips happening every month, safety incidents will happen too, even if they are exceptionally rare. But rare doesn’t mean acceptable. That’s why we’re constantly working to make every trip safer.” ## Why is the program facing legal challenges? In November, two drivers for the app filed a [class-action lawsuit](https://time.com/7332356/uber-lawsuit-sex-discrimination-lyft/ "undefined") over the Women Preferences feature, claiming that the program is discriminatory against men. In the suit, the plaintiffs allege that the feature “reinforces the gender stereotype that men are more dangerous than women,” and accuse the program of granting women drivers access to all passengers using the app while leaving men drivers contending for a smaller number of customers. Uber has pushed back against the claim that the program is illegally discriminatory, saying in a court filing that the new program “serves a strong and recognized public policy interest in enhancing safety.” “This feature is a common sense solution to a long-standing request from both women Drivers and Riders who told Uber they would feel more comfortable and safer if they could choose to ride with another woman,” Uber said in the filing. 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