Lyft announced the launch of a new feature that will match female and nonbinary-identifying passengers with drivers of the same gender.
The new feature, called Women+ Connect, is an optional preference that women and individuals who identify as nonbinary can select within the app settings to request drivers with the same gender. The company noted that this is a preference, and if there are no women or nonbinary-identifying drivers in the area, the rider will be matched with the next available driver. Women and nonbinary-identifying drivers can select the same preference in their settings, matching them with women or nonbinary passengers.
In a press release, the ride-sharing informed customers, “Women+ Connect puts women and nonbinary people in the driver’s seat — literally — by letting them choose to match with more women and nonbinary riders.”
The feature is active in “select early-access cities,” Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose. “When the feature goes live in a city,” Lyft’s press release adds, “women and nonbinary riders will be prompted in their Lyft app to select ‘Count me in,’ which will increase their chances of matching with women and nonbinary drivers.”
Lyft’s CEO David Risher made a statement applauding the new feature for “providing more women and nonbinary people the opportunity to earn money on their terms and giving riders more choice.” Risher added, “We hope this gives millions of drivers and riders another reason to choose Lyft.”
Social media users who identify as transgender bashed the new feature for not catering to drivers who identify as transgender women and only providing “safety” to so-called cisgender women.
“This actually poses a big safety issue for Lyft drivers that are trans and nonbinary, because who is making this determination of gender? I feel like they forgot about nonbinary people assigned male at birth that often look like cisgender men,” one TikToker said.
The individual added, “There’s also non-passing trans women as well . . . what about them? Because if a Lyft rider is using this feature and they’re expecting a woman or a nonbinary person and, let’s face it, they’re going to assume an AFAB nonbinary person . . . then a non-passing nonbinary or a non-passing trans woman pulls up . . . this poses a huge safety risk for these trans drivers.”
The TikTok user added that there’s also a loophole for males seeking to exploit the new feature, noting that there’s “nothing stopping them” from changing their gender on the app to reflect female or nonbinary.
Some conservatives rebuked the company for allowing passengers to “cherry-pick” who they ride with. One such critic was Tomi Lahren, who asked, “What’s next, a new feature to pick your driver’s race?!”
One X user responded to her post stating, “Let me guess… they also let customers choose whatever gender they feel like. This seems like it would introduce even more risk for women drivers, as they can be specifically summoned to secluded areas late at night.”
