Assault during rideshares is common nowadays. No matter whether Lyft has clear rules and policies on assault, misconduct, and harassment, it cannot be denied that these cases are rampant.
According to the United States Government Accountability Office, several people rely on ridesharing and taxi services, but there is a growing concern about assaults on drivers and passengers.
This is among the reasons Lyft has launched this feature of Gender Preferences, allowing women in particular to choose the gender of their driver, may they be cisgender, transgender, or non-binary.
Cisgender people identify with the sex assigned to them at birth, transgender people identify with a different gender than the sex assigned to them at birth, and non-binary people identify outside the traditional categories of exclusively male or female.
This is a follow-through of and seemingly partnered after the Women Preferences feature that Uber has, also with the aim to combat sexual assault.
“Lyft is rolling out an inclusive product at a time when so many companies are shying away from explicit inclusion of transgender and nonbinary people,” Jay Brown, the chief of staff for the Human Rights Campaign, stated in a press release. “When rideshare is better for these folks, it’s better for everyone, and we at Human Rights Campaign stand behind that.”
Since 2018, Lyft has been committed to disclosing reports on transparencies with regards to incidents of sexual harassment, physical altercation, and, most gravely, fatality. It is only right for these ridesharing apps to be more accountable, considering that they are beginning to overtake the cheaper cabs and public transportation.
It works this way. Aside from making the 9-1-1 button a click away, Lyft will also send a check-in message to the rider if the driver begins veering off the scheduled course. On other ridesharing apps like InDrive, the app will send a notification if they notice unusual activity on your end.
This Gender Preference Feature, also pertained to as the Women+ Connect feature, enables women – cisgender, transgender, and non-binary – to select a gender preference for their driver. This feature is available in various regions in the country. Think of this as like the inDrive feature, allowing the passengers to choose who their driver will be, rather than the app automatically assigning a driver.
Since the launch, around 10 million riders have accessed the feature, such as Gaddy Rodas, a Lyft driver in Florida, who is enjoying making female passengers feel safer, especially when doing rides in the wee hours of the night.
“I know there’s going to be women calling a Lyft, and they will feel more comfortable if a female driver is there,” Rodas chatted with Ridesharing Forum. “They’re like, ‘That makes me feel so much better.’”
Lyft is a ridesharing app that connects passengers with nearby drivers through a mobile app. Passengers request rides, receive fare estimates, track drivers in real-time, and pay digitally or traditionally, while drivers earn income by providing transportation using their personal cars. For more ridesharing updates, keep browsing Ridesharing Forum!