Women Plus Connect is a new feature designed to improve safety. It’s launching in Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose.

By Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, a smart home reviewer who’s been testing connected gadgets since 2013. Previously a writer for Wirecutter, Wired, and BBC Science Focus.

Women Plus Connect is a new feature in the Lyft app that lets women and nonbinary drivers and riders opt to prefer women and nonbinary drivers and riders. — a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Lyft

On Tuesday, rideshare service Lyft launched Women Plus Connect, an in-app feature that “matches women and nonbinary drivers with more women and nonbinary riders.” The move is an effort to improve safety and encourage more women and nonbinary drivers to work with the company. A report by The Verge found that female rideshare drivers frequently face harassment and sexual assault and feel unsupported by rideshare companies.

The feature offers Lyft drivers an option to turn on a preference in the Lyft app to prioritize matches with other nearby women and nonbinary riders. It’s not a guarantee, however, and if no riders that match that description are nearby, drivers will still be matched with men.

The driver view in the Lyft app allows them to select to be matched with more women and nonbinary passengers.

a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Image: Lyft

Women and nonbinary riders can choose to be more likely to be matched with more women and nonbinary passengers.

On the rider side, women and nonbinary riders will see an option to “count me in” in their Lyft app. Choosing this will “increase their chances of matching with women and nonbinary drivers,” according to this blog post from Lyft. It’s unclear how people can identify in the app to be eligible to select this feature. We’ve reached out to Lyft for clarification.

Lyft says this feature has been highly requested and will give women and nonbinary people more control over both the driving and riding experience. The company also says it hopes it will encourage more women to take on the role of Lyft driver, which Lyft says pays close to $36 per hour (on average, including tips and bonuses). Currently, that demographic accounts for less than a quarter of Lyft drivers, which is comparable with the rest of the rideshare industry, according to a report by Gridwise.

Competitor Uber has a similar feature for its women and nonbinary drivers called Women Rider Preference, launched in 2022.

Lyft’s program is launching in Chicago, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose initially, and the company says it’s looking to roll out to more cities soon. You can sign up to be notified when it arrives in your city at lyft.com/women+.

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