Female-only ride-sharing hits Australia

Ride-sharing start-up SheSafe will launch in Melbourne in January, filling a theoretical gap left by industry leaders such as Uber – women-only ride-sharing.

Thanks to the likes of Uber, the ride-sharing phenomenon is strong in Australia. Early adopters spruik the merits of ride-sharing like a well-paid ambassador, while those late to join the ranks question why it took them so long.

Understandably, there are some who are yet to get on the band wagon; it’s not been all smooth sailing, after all. Driver and passengers safety as well as passenger privacy has been called into question on more than one occasion. However, the great gender debate, as a cause of the safety concern, has not… until now.

Start-up ride-sharing business SheSafe offers an Uber-style service with a difference. It’s run by women, for women. Its point of difference is that it offers women-only drivers and women (or children) only passengers. No blokes.

The premise is that women and children (and parents thereof) will feel safer with a woman behind the wheel because male drivers pose a potential risk.

“We started this business after conducting a lot of research into whether women and young girls feel safe travelling in a car with a male driver and the answer was no, most of them don’t.” said SheSafe founder and director Emma Buchanan.

After launching in Melbourne in January, SheSafe will also become available in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Like Uber, drivers use their own vehicles and work their own hours, it’s a cashless transaction (credit or prepay only), an app-based booking and tracking system will be used and both drivers and passengers build a profile whereby feedback can be shared.

“We’ve had hundreds of drivers sign up already” says Buchanan.

A burning question remains. Is it fair to call a driver safe or otherwise, based on gender alone?

“We knew we would get a little bit of flack. This business really is about safety and concern for women drivers, women passengers and young women and girls.  It has nothing to do with sexism or being discriminatory towards anyone.

“What we do know is that the taxi industry and Uber do not have appropriate background checks and they’re not rigorous checks. There’s a real slack there in the marketplace and there shouldn’t be. Our biggest concern, and our whole brand, is about the safety of women and children.

“When people are paying for a service why should they feel scared and uncomfortable about getting into a car with a male driver as many women do?"

Uber currently addresses safety by giving riders information about their driver, tracking trips using GPS from beginning to end, enabling riders to share their ETA or route, and subsequently acting on feedback from riders and drivers.

Changes to Victorian taxi and hire-car regulations, however, will see the Taxi Services Commission require all drivers – ride-sharing or not – to be accredited, which includes passing police, medical and driving history checks. The latter is not currently a requirement of the SheSafe’s driver selection.

Uber currently has no mechanism to facilitate driver selection based on gender and commends competition such as the new SheSafe offering.

“We welcome competition because choice always delivers better outcomes for consumers," said an Uber spokesperson. "We understand our customers always have a choice and continue to work hard on delivering a safe, reliable and affordable way for more people to get from A to B.”

Any service that offers commuters a new level of safety and comfort is good news and SheSafe is about to deliver this to a powerful and vocal cohort. On that basis alone, you can expect to hear more about SheSafe in 2017.