Toronto just got a women's only ride-sharing app
The options you have for getting around the city are expanding in Toronto, once again, my friends – but only if you're a woman.
A new ride-sharing service called DriveHER hits the app store today, joining companies like Uber, Lyft, InstaRyde, Taxify and even Beck in what's become an increasingly-crowded car-for-hire market.
DriveHER is unique, however, in that only women can use the platform. That goes both both riders and drivers.
Founded in Toronto by a young female entrepreneur, Aisha Addo, DriveHER is described as "a ride-share service that provides safe rides, enhances community and further empowers women by being an alternative transportation service."
Addo has reportedly been working on the project for two years and has a fleet of 100 female drivers signed up and ready to go.
Women can start signing up for the service as of 2 p.m. on Friday, but the company announced a few hours ago on Instagram that "the roll out will take place over the next few days" due to a "rigorous screening and background check process and the excitement relating to the launch."
Hype surrounding the launch of this app has been atypically high, for a ride-sharing service – but any woman who takes cabs on the regular can likely tell you why.
The company is exciting in terms of its ethos, branding and social consciousness (DriveHER connects with local shelters, for instance, to provide free rides for women and children fleeing domestic abuse.)
What's perhaps even more appealing, though, from a consumer standpoint, is the thought of never feeling uncomfortable, disrespected or frightened for our safety in the back of someone else's vehicle while trying to go about our lives in peace.
