Autonomous taxis are winning over women in cities like San Francisco by offering an answer to a long-standing concern about ride-hailing apps: misbehavior by human drivers, especially men.
Some women said in interviews that they’ve mostly stopped using Uber and Lyft, the two most popular ride-hailing apps, and have switched instead to a driverless competitor, Waymo, at least in part because they don’t have to share physical space with an unfamiliar man behind the wheel. In autonomous taxis, software drives the car with no other human present.
Veronica Pastore, 40, a nonprofit worker in San Francisco, said she switched to Waymo about six months ago and that it’s now her default choice when she needs a ride. Concern about drivers is one of the reasons, she said.
www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/are-taxis-safer-no-driver-women-think-rcna173936