ATLANTA, Ga. — One Uber driver decided to create a ride-share service just for women.
Atlanta driver Jillian Anderson created a new ride-share option in 2019 called Her-Ride, which focuses on keeping women safe.
Anderson used to drive for Uber and Lyft, and she said she wanted to give women that alternative option.
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“I just wanted women to have an alternative option to choose to ride with whoever they wanted to ride with when it comes to going from their house to Walmart, going to the school, or the airport,” Anderson said.
Anderson has a computer science background, so with that, she did her research and decided to develop her own company.
“I just did some research. When I found out Lyft started with two guys, I decided to go all in and start my own ride-share company that catered just to women,” Anderson said.
She said when she used to drive for other ride-share companies, women would often wait until they got a female driver.
“A lot of women who work second shift and nightlife in Atlanta would say, ‘hey I would schedule a ride and cancel a ride until I got a woman,’” Anderson said.
A report showed that 6,000 women were assaulted in Uber vehicles between 2017 and 2018. In 2019, Uber said the company had an issue with some of their male drivers assaulting women.
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All drivers for Her-Ride are women. However, the drivers will pick up men if the driver feels comfortable.
“I put my drivers first. They’re the bread and butter of the company so if they don’t feel comfortable, they don’t get penalized for it,” Anderson said.
Anderson said 25,000 have downloaded the app and 12,000 people have signed up to use Her-Ride. Currently, you can only schedule a ride until they get more drivers.
“We have about 60 drivers on the platform right now, my goal is to get 1,000 in Atlanta,” Anderson said.
The company is making a difference by keeping women safe while providing a service.
“It makes me feel good. It makes me feel like what I created was actually needed. I just wanted to create a safe place for women,” Anderson said.
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