Reassuring Rides
Finally heeding the requests of its passengers, the ridesharing company Lyft announced a new safety feature allowing women and non-binary riders to request female and non-binary drivers. The in-app option, called Women+ Connect, is currently only available in the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, San Diego, Phoenix and Chicago, though Lyft plans to expand it nationwide by the end of the year. Women+ Connect does not guarantee that a passenger will receive a female or non-binary driver, but makes a match more likely. The feature was added following a series of lawsuits by passengers pertaining to incidents of sexual assault by drivers (Cable News Network).
Mainstream ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber have come under intense scrutiny over safety concerns as a result of high rates of sexual assaults mainly perpetrated by men. Between 2017 and 2019, Lyft received 4,158 reports of sexual assault, including 2,300 accounts of non-consensual touching, 350 incidents of rape and 10 deaths. However they stated that these incidents account for less than 1% of all rides. Although the reports do not specify the perpetrators’ genders or whether they were the driver or passenger in their, Lyft was hit with several lawsuits by female drivers and passengers who accused the company of failing to address passenger safety as well as ignoring the attacks despite being aware of them. One plaintiff was sexually assaulted by her driver and coerced into silence because he knew where she lived. Another plaintiff was taken from Brooklyn, New York to a site in New Jersey where her driver and two other men raped her (Helping Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Assualt). Despite the victim of the latter assault contacting a Lyft representative, she received nothing but a formal apology. In June 2022, Lyft reached a $25 million settlement to resolve a lawsuit accusing the company of concealing instances of assault and in September 2022 alone faced 14 lawsuits regarding sexual assault (National Public Radio). The lawsuits sought to make Lyft take more safety precautions; their suggestions included criminal background checks for drivers, video and audio recordings of rides and an option for female passengers to hail female drivers. Following the last proposal, Lyft created Women+ Connect in the hopes to reduce these incidents and help female passengers feel safer and more comfortable. Lyft and Uber also agreed in 2021 to share the names of drivers who were deactivated due to sexual misconduct ranging from inappropriate comments to rape (NPR). Freshman Keoni Alegre believes that Women+ Connect is long overdue, but also recognizes that even with precautions it is difficult to monitor assaults.
“Given the assault cases, Lyft should have introduced more safety measures sooner,” Alegre said. “The idea of having rideshare companies that take passengers where they need to go is a really good idea, but no one would think twice [about assault] until it actually happens. Then again, it is really hard to keep track of [assaults] because there are a lot of people around the world and Lyft is just one company.”
Lyft has used the feature to encourage more gender diversity among its staff, as nearly half of Lyft passengers are female, but only 23% of its drivers are; the company specifically launched the feature in cities that have a greater female driver to female rider ratio. Lyft has stated that they hope Women+ Connect will attract more female drivers to sign up (NPR). Another notable aspect of Women+ Connect is the inclusion of non-binary drivers and passengers which the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy group, commended (Them Magazine). Freshman Nelly Szalkowski praises Lyft for aiding community representation in its service.
“As a non-binary person, I neither identify as male or female, and if I had a non-binary driver I would feel much better as they would understand my struggles and I could relate to them,” Szalkowski said. “It is good that Lyft is encouraging more female and non-binary [job] opportunities in a male-dominated [field].”
Women+ Connect has been appreciated by many, stating that it makes them feel safer and more comfortable (Columbia Broadcasting System). The non-binary community has particularly praised Lyft for their explicit inclusion of non-binary drivers and riders at a time when many other companies shy away from the LGBTQ+ community (NPR). Others, however, feel that it is not enough to protect them, as a male passenger or driver could easily mark their identity on the app as female or non-binary (National Broadcasting Company). Some have voiced concerns over how it prioritizes female and non-binary drivers at the expense of male drivers and how it may encourage discrimination against men (Newsweek). Freshman Taylie Saga-Narikawa is among those unsatisfied with what Lyft currently offers.
“[Lyft] should definitely do a better background check for their drivers to see if they have a history with drugs or assault,” Saga-Narikawa said. “Considering how a driver could do anything they wanted to a passenger, having more information on the driver would be ideal.”
