In the past few years, there have been dozens of widely-reported cases of sexual assault in ride-hailing services like Uber.
The exact number of instances remains unclear, but the fact that cases exist in the first place drove one former Uber driver to search for a solution.
Previously called “Chariots for Women,” Boston startup Safr was founded by Michael Pelletz in April 2016 with the goal of making ridesharing safer for both women drivers and riders.
A former Uber driver, Pelletz had an uncomfortable experience one night that made him reconsider how the situation might have played out had his wife been driving in his place.
Though Pelletz has since handed off management of the startup to a new team of executives, Safr has continued to grow, officially launching its ride-hailing app in March 2017.
The app works similarly to other ride-hailing companies, with riders summoning a driver and getting an estimated time of arrival. But once you get in the car, Safr has a feature that will dial 911 if you run into any trouble, making the company’s 24/7 call center or your emergency contacts available at the push of a button.
Other safety features include a color-matching tool which assigns drivers and passengers with a color for each ride. Colors must be verified by the driver and passenger before starting the ride to ensure the driver is picking up the correct passenger.
Safr also claims to invest more in background checks “than any other ridesharing company.” In addition to scouring each driver’s criminal and motor vehicle history, the company also conducts in-person interviews and ride-alongs with each candidate before they can start driving.
Riders pay about a dollar more for Safr rides than other ride-hailing companies, according to the company’s marketing and PR manager Joanna Humphrey Flynn.
Safr currently has about 100 drivers on the road with another 1,000 being processed. So far, all of the drivers are women and no men have completed applications to be drivers, but Flynn said some men have signed up for the app.
Safr’s app currently only works in Boston, but Flynn said they hope to go nationally “ASAP” — and eventually, go global.
“Our mission is the safety and empowerment of women,” Flynn said. “Empowering them nationally and globally — in developing countries where it’s frowned upon for women to get into cars with men at all. We have the opportunity to give them the freedom of mobility, which could spiral evolution.”
Photos via social media
