Summary
- Uber started a pilot program for passengers to choose female drivers in seven Brazilian cities.
- The modalities include Reserve Female Drivers, Women’s Preference and Female Drivers, with differences in availability and operation.
- 99 offers the 99Mulher button for drivers, while Lady Driver is an exclusive platform for female drivers and passengers.
Uber started this Tuesday (28/10) a pilot program so that passengers can opt for trips with female drivers. The tests will take place in the cities of Piracicaba (SP), Uberlândia (MG), Curitiba (PR), Campinas (SP), São José dos Campos (SP), Ribeirão Preto (SP) and Campo Grande (MS).
How will the option for female drivers work?
The company will offer three different modalities to direct users to female professionals: Reserve Female Drivers, Women’s Preference and Female Drivers.
They work like this:
- Book Women Drivers: The Women Drivers option appears on Uber Reserve, which allows you to schedule trips 30 minutes in advance.
- Preference for Women: users can activate a setting that gives preference to female drivers on all UberX trips; however, depending on the number of female drivers available in the region, the request may be automatically directed to the nearest male driver.
- Women Drivers: the Women Drivers option appears among the products available when requesting a ride; If the waiting time is too long, the app will ask if the passenger wants to continue waiting or would she prefer to be served by the nearest male driver.
All cities will receive the Reserve Women Drivers and Women’s Preference modalities. The Women Drivers modality will initially only be available in Piracicaba.
The pilot begins just a few months after a similar announcement in the United States. There, tests began in the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit.
The company recalls that, since 2019, it has been offering the U-Elas modality in Brazil, which allows female drivers to only receive travel requests from female users.
What are the competitors’ options?
Uber’s main competitor in Brazil, 99 offers female drivers the 99Mulher button, which works in a similar way to U-Elas, directing only passenger rides to the driver.
For female passengers, 99 does not have an option of this type, but has an artificial intelligence called Pítia, which identifies users in risky situations and directs these rides to female drivers or well-evaluated male drivers.
In addition to the two companies, there is also Lady Driver, a platform that only has female drivers and only serves women, children and the elderly.
With information from Uber
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/uber-permitira-optar-por-motoristas-mulheres-veja-como-funciona/
