Women in Costa Rica Can Now Choose a Female Uber Driver

Women who use Uber in Costa Rica can now ask to be driven by another woman. The company launched the option, called Uber Mujeres, yesterday. It is rolling out gradually across the Greater Metropolitan Area this week and works only with UberX for now. If you don’t see it in your app yet, that’s why. There is a catch since Uber says availability depends on how many women drivers are connected when you make your request, so a match isn’t guaranteed. You can use the option in three ways. Choose Uber Mujeres when you request a ride right away, if it appears in your app. Book a trip in advance through the app’s reservation feature, or set it as your default so the app prioritizes women drivers on future trips. To set it as your default, open the app, go to Account and scroll to your ride preferences. In the Spanish-language version of the app, the setting reads “Prefiero viaje con socias colaboradoras,” meaning you prefer trips with women drivers. The size of the pool is the real limit. Women make up more than 10% of Uber’s active drivers in Costa Rica, according to the company, and its press office puts their number at roughly 3,400 to 4,000. Uber says the number of active women drivers has grown more than 272% over the past five years. Even so, most people driving for the platform in Latin America are men. Laura Santillán, Uber’s general manager for Costa Rica, Panama and the Caribbean, said in an interview that the company aims to raise the share of women drivers to 20% within five years. The company says the idea grew out of Uber Ellas, a feature launched in 2020 that lets women drivers choose to take trips only with women passengers. Santillán said that experience, along with feedback from riders, led Uber to give women passengers the same choice. Before the launch, Uber surveyed a group of its women users in Costa Rica. According to the company, 90% said a woman-driver option was very or somewhat important, and 95% said offering it showed Uber was listening to women’s needs. Respondents said they would be most likely to use it for trips at night, when traveling alone and on longer rides. Uber has not published the survey’s sample size or methodology. Costa Rica is the sixth country in Latin America to get Uber Mujeres, the company said. It is the latest addition to an app that already lets you book Costa Rica’s red taxis. Ride-hailing apps still operate in Costa Rica without a law written specifically for them. A bill to regulate platforms such as Uber and DiDi remains before the Legislative Assembly, years after the apps reshaped the taxi market. Uber has not said when Uber Mujeres will reach areas outside the Greater Metropolitan Area or other ride types beyond UberX.