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11/22/2024 06:48:17 am

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New Ridesharing Service for Women Competes with Uber

Chariot for Women is set to launch on April 19, ensuring safety of drivers and passengers by keeping adult men out of the equation.

(Photo : Getty Images) Chariot for Women is set to launch on April 19, ensuring safety of drivers and passengers by keeping adult men out of the equation.

A new ridesharing service for womencalled Chariot for Women is being launched by Uber driver Michael Pelletz.

Chariot for Women is set to launch on April 19. The new ridesharing service will make sure the safety of the drivers and the passengers by keeping adult men out of the equation. Only women and children will be allowed as passengers in the vehicles, and there will be a system in place to keep things safe. To ensure that passengers are riding the correct car, they need to declare the same code that appears on both the passenger and the driver’s smartphones. Drivers will answer a daily-changing security question to prove their identity.

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Founder Michael Pelletz came up with the idea in February 2016, when he was driving for Uber 17 hours a day in Boston. He had conversations with thousands of women for the past years, recalling that these women were interested to work in the livery industry. These women said that they would 100 percent sure that they will never drive at night if they become professional drivers.

Kelly Pelletz, wife of Michael and president of Chariot for Women, has devised a fare system where two percent of every fare goes to women-based charities. The passengers can even select a charity that would benefit from their simple of riding and sharing across the city.

“The premise is the same as all the other ridesharing services. There’s a driver app and a client app, except that what makes us unique is our safety feature that other apps forgot to do,” Pelletz said in a phone interview.

 The service will also pick up kids of any gender under age 13, as well as anyone of any age who identifies as a woman. Pelletz said that transgender women can also drive and ride with them.

Chariot for Women is created out of the controversy that has surrounded other ride hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft. Based on the data in the customer service database between the months of December 2012 and August 2015, there are mere five claims of rape and lower than 170 claims of sexual assault directly related to an Uber ride.

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