Chariot for Women: Female-only ride-sharing service set to launch in Boston

Founder and former Uber driver Michael Pelletz got the idea after picking up one too many dangerous customers

Black cabs at the London Taxi Driver Association (LTDA) in Westbourne Park, London (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

A new taxi service dubbed the 'Uber for women' is set to launch in the US this month.

Chariot for Women, the (mostly) female-only car service, will begin picking up customers on 19 April in Boston, Massachusetts.

The company was founded by Michael Pelletz, a former Uber driver, who got the idea after picking up a drunken and potentially dangerous male passenger.

As it says on the company's website: "One thought kept coming up in his head: 'What if I was a woman?'...'How would a woman handle that situation, especially when I was so nervous myself?'"

All of Chariot for Women's drivers will be female, and the company says they will go through thorough background checks before they can start driving. Customers will also have to exchange a 'safe word' with the driver before a ride begins, in order to verify they're in the right car.

Only women and transwomen will be able to travel as passengers, although children under 13 will be allowed to use the service regardless of gender. The company also says it will donate two per cent of each fare to women-focused charities.

Rape allegations have been made against Uber drivers before, and a Buzzfeed investigation in March claimed to reveal over 6,000 complaints relating to sexual assault had been logged in the company's customer service database.

Uber claimed the actual figure was far lower, and said it always fully co-operates with law enforcement and affected customers when such allegations are made. However, Chariot for Women says many of its potential customers would feel safer riding with a vetted female driver.

The company is currently preparing for launch, but some have speculated that its female-only policies could create legal issues.

Speaking to the Boston Globe, employment law expert Joseph L. Sulman said refusing to hire male drivers could potentially be against the law.

"To limit employees to one gender, you have to have what the law calls a bona fide occupational qualification. And that's a really strict standard," he said.

Dahlia C. Rudavsky, a partner at a Boston law firm, also told the paper that turning down male customers could breach discrimination laws.

"There's nothing wrong with advertising particularly to a female customer base," she said, "but if a company goes further and refuses to pick up a man, I think they'd potentially run into legal trouble."

Pelletz told TechCrunch he would welcome legal challenges, hoping they would "show there's inequality in safety in our industry."

The Independent has contacted Chariot for Women for more information.