I also love getting to know and see Phoenix and the surrounding areas.' 'I love the extra money that I get from driving. 'I did opt in to connect with more women,' Smith said. 'If you book a ride, and your boyfriend, significant other, brother or your son or dad walk up to my car, why haven't you put it in the notes that I'm picking up a man? Have my back,' she said.ĭay One Agency Mixed reaction from Lyft driversĪlthough Smith admits that Women+ Connect isn’t a safety guarantee, she said she was happy to test drive the feature. Smith said that she has experienced many instances of picking up a fare only to find it was a different person than the one listed on the account. While Lyft offers safety protocols, like mandatory driver’s license verification for drivers, it does little to protect drivers. Fourteen of those lawsuits came from plaintiffs who claimed to be victims of sexual assault. users who said the app failed to protect drivers and passengers from sexual and physical assault. In 2022, Lyft was hit with 17 separate lawsuits from U.S. Some 1,014 cases of attempted nonconsensual sexual penetration of drivers and riders were also reported, according to the company. Lyft's sexual assault data for 2019 identified over 1,000 attempted rapes in rideshare trips arranged through its app that year. Sadly, Smith’s experience isn’t an isolated one. 'His sister booked him a ride to get him home safely because he was drunk.' 'I have had a man be bold enough to reach over to grab a body part and ask if I could come home with him,' she explained. Smith said that she wishes more female passengers who schedule rides for men would take a second to share that information in a note on the app. When an account is linked to a rider who identifies as a woman, that person can use the new feature even when booking a ride for a man, without indicating the identity of the actual rider. One major pitfall to the Women+ Connect feature is that it doesn't account for women who book rides on their accounts on behalf of men. Still, according to Lyft, its drivers averaged $36 per hour including tips in the second quarter of 2023.ĭay One Agency Not a surefire safety feature The nationwide study looked at the tipping habits of Uber riders and found that nearly 60% of riders never tip, while 1% tip for every trip. Third? Women are more likely to tip, she said.īut the notion that women are more likely than men to tip may be largely anecdotal, according to a 2019 University of Chicago study. 'Most women feel safer getting in a car with a woman.' Second, for my passengers to ease their minds,' she told Phoenix New Times. She opted in for three reasons: 'First, for my safety. The news was exciting for Karen Smith, a Lyft driver with five years of experience shuttling people around the Valley.

“We hope this gives millions of drivers and riders another reason to choose Lyft.” “Women+ Connect is all about providing more women and nonbinary people the opportunity to earn money on their terms and giving riders more choice,” said Lyft CEO David Risher said in a press release. Lyft is hopeful that its Women+ Connect option will help encourage more drivers from those two demographics to jump behind the wheel.

Only 8% of Lyft drivers identify as LGBTQ+, the report stated. Women make up nearly half of all Lyft riders but account for just 23% of the company’s drivers, according to Lyft’s 2023 Economic Impact Report.

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