March 9, 2026
Rideshare goes girl mode
Uber is letting women avoid male drivers and riders in the US
Uber’s women-only rides spark cheers, side-eye, and pricing panic
TLDR: Uber will let women match only with women drivers or riders in the U.S., starting in LA, SF, and Detroit before expanding nationwide by August 2025. Commenters split between cheering a needed safety feature and worrying about discrimination, higher prices, and too few women drivers—plus jokes about adding even more filters.
Uber is flipping on a “Women Preferences” switch in the U.S., letting women request women drivers—and women drivers choose women riders. It starts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit through late July into August 2025, with a nationwide rollout to follow. There’s even a “Women Drivers” option on the request screen, with a fallback to faster pickups if you’re okay with any driver. It’s not brand-new globally: Uber’s run this in 40 countries since first trying it in Saudi Arabia in 2019, fine-tuning in places like Germany and France.
The comment section? On fire. Safety-first voices called it “unfortunately necessary,” with one user saying “every girl I know” has had a creepy ride and even name-dropping robotaxis as a safer vibe. Others clutched their pearls over fairness: one snarked, “If this form of discrimination is ok, can we get other filters?”—hinting at a slippery slope. Money talk crashed the party too: will scarce women drivers mean higher prices and longer waits? Some say women drivers are already rare, so good luck getting a match. Meanwhile, the “actually, Lyft and Empower did this already” crowd rolled in with receipts and links. And the memes? “Next up: ‘No small talk’ filter,” joked one, while another imagined the app asking, “Bestie vibes only?” It’s safety vs. choice vs. surge pricing—pick two.
Key Points
- •Uber is launching Women Preferences in the U.S., allowing women riders and drivers to select same‑gender matches.
- •Initial rollout will occur in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit through late July into August 2025, with nationwide expansion starting next month.
- •Women riders will see a “Women Drivers” option when requesting trips, with the ability to opt for faster non-preferred rides if wait times are long.
- •The feature builds on Women Rider Preference introduced in Saudi Arabia in 2019 and now available in 40 countries.
- •Uber refined the feature after tests in markets like Germany and France, according to VP Camiel Irving.