Uber Introduces Female Drivers Ride Option in Saudi Arabia

• Uber in Saudi Arabia has added a new type of ride, letting women passengers to be accompanied by only female drivers.
• The company is also introducing Saudi Arabia's first-ever GigSister event

Uber, an American multinational transportation company, has added a new type of ride in Saudi Arabia that lets women passengers be paired up with only female drivers, in keeping with larger initiatives to promote the engagement of women in the workforce and the mobility industry.

The initiative follows seven years since the Kingdom ended the prohibition on women driving, and follows Uber's ongoing commitment to investing in Saudi Arabia's localised initiatives that promote Saudi Vision 2030 objectives.

The new category, Women Drivers, operates similarly to the normal UberX service and will be rolled out incrementally to drivers throughout the nation in the next few weeks. It allows women to book on-demand rides or reserve them ahead up to 30 minutes on Uber Reserve.

In a statement, General Manager of Uber in Saudi Arabia Youssef Abouseif said, “The launch of the ‘Women Drivers’ product reflects our commitment to empowering women and supporting their mobility and economic independence. We’re giving women more choice, more opportunity, and a stronger sense of community.”

Uber is also introducing Saudi Arabia's first-ever GigSister event — an initiative-based program providing a platform for female drivers to connect, network, and create a local community support system.

Concurrently, the firm has joined hands with Alnahda Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to economically and socially empowering women. The partnership involves capacity-building activities such as financial literacy classes, seeking to empower women with skills that can result in economic independence, such as working as Uber drivers.

The new program is an extension of Uber's earlier partnership with Alnahda in the Masaruky program, which aided thousands of women in acquiring driver's licenses and mobility-based employment.

Uber launched a number of female-centric services across Saudi Arabia in recent years, including:

• Wusool, which has booked more than 20 million subsidised rides for women
• Women Rider Preference, which enables female drivers to only accept women riders

It is seeking to raise the workforce participation of women while providing greater convenience and flexibility for drivers and riders alike.