The first line of Uber’s Homepage on Safety reads, “We are committed to ensuring Uber is the safest way to get around a city.” Despite this commitment, multiple accounts of incidents including but not limited to sexual harassment, rape, and abduction have been reported, leaving Uber customers, specifically women, feeling uncertain and fearful.
When passengers request an Uber to pick them up at their specific geographic location, they are unaware of their driver’s identity. It is not until the Uber driver is on their way that they see a picture of the driver and his or her name. Although Uber implemented this system to avoid passengers discriminating against certain drivers, Uber users and potential clients, especially women, have been expressing a desire to be able to pick the gender of their driver; the motive behind this change is for women to feel comfortable in their Uber cars.
This same concern has been running rampant at Stone Ridge. Teenage girls are torn between wanting to enjoy the convenience of Uber, as with the touch of a finger on the Uber app a personal driver will appear within minutes, and worrying about their safety, especially at night.
While most girls at Stone Ridge have reported their Uber drivers to be nice and their driving experience to be uneventful, there is the possibility that they could be harmed and taken advantage of, like other female Uber riders have been in the past. When surveyed, the majority of students in the Upper School said they would not feel comfortable riding in an Uber alone. Further, 73% of students who responded said they would feel more comfortable if they could choose to have a female driver.
Although Uber is strengthening its safety promise by enhancing its Code of Conduct, establishing a Safety Advisory Board, creating an Incident Response Team, and updating its safety products, far more work has been left untouched. In India, after a woman was raped by her Uber driver, Uber responded by implementing an SOS button to its app; it is unfortunate that such a tragic event had to occur before preventative actions were taken. However, the SOS button seems to be a positive step in the right direction.
Uber has, in addition, announced a partnership with the United Nations to create “1 million jobs for women globally on the Uber platform by 2020.” As the percentage of female Uber drivers is currently below 15%, this is another change that will improve the future of Uber for all its passengers.
Although it is possible that Uber may never decide to let its passengers choose the gender of their drivers, it is clearly a concern for its customers. In the meantime, we as young women are hopeful that Uber’s new safety improvements will increase the comfort of its clients and create a safer Uber experience.
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