Uber's women-only option goes nationwide in the US

Uber has rolled out its “Women Preferences” feature across the entire United States, expanding what began as a small pilot programme into a nationwide option that lets women riders and drivers be matched with one another.

The full national rollout went live on Monday 9 March 2026, timed to coincide with International Women’s Day. The feature had previously been piloted in five US cities from August 2025, then expanded to 26 cities in November, and now covers women riders and drivers right across the country.

For passengers, the new system gives three options. They can request a ride on demand by selecting “Women Drivers” in the app. They can reserve a trip with a woman driver in advance. Or they can set a preference in their app settings, which increases the chances of being matched with a woman without guaranteeing it. If the wait for a woman driver becomes too long, the rider can opt for the standard matching system instead.

Women drivers can also flip a switch in the app to prioritise trips from women riders, and can turn that preference off whenever they want. The feature is available for Uber Teen accounts in markets where the teen account type is active.

Uber says the change came in direct response to feedback from women on the platform. According to the company, more than 230 million trips have been completed globally using Women Preferences since it was first piloted, and the feature is now available to drivers in over 40 countries and to riders in seven.

The rollout has not been without controversy. Uber is currently facing a class-action lawsuit in California filed by two male drivers, who argue that the feature breaches the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act by giving women drivers access to a wider pool of passengers. Uber has filed a motion to compel arbitration in the case and has defended the feature as a safety measure that “serves a strong and recognized public policy interest in enhancing safety”. Rival operator Lyft is facing a similar lawsuit over its Women+Connect feature, which went nationwide in the US in 2024.

Uber said it relies on the gender listed on a driver’s licence to determine eligibility. Unlike Lyft’s equivalent, Uber’s Women Preferences feature is not available to riders or drivers who identify as non-binary. Uber said it consulted with women’s safety organisations and LGBTQ+ groups when designing the feature and decided it was “not the best way to serve non-binary riders or drivers”.

Around one in five of Uber’s US drivers are women, although the figure varies significantly by city. Some industry observers have questioned how effective the matching feature will be in practice, particularly during overnight hours when there are far fewer women drivers on the road. Sergio Avedian, a senior contributor at The RideShare Guy and an Uber and Lyft driver himself, told the Associated Press he supports the concept but is sceptical, asking whether riders will be willing to wait an extra twenty minutes outside a bar to get matched with a woman.

For UK drivers, the move is one to watch. Uber has so far not announced any plans to bring Women Preferences to the UK market, but the company already operates a similar option in over 40 other countries. Given how much of the UK private hire conversation in recent years has centred on passenger safety, particularly for women travelling alone at night, it would not be a huge surprise if the feature crossed the Atlantic at some stage.

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