It's in the best interest for ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft to provide female passengers, children, handicapable and LGBTQ folks the option to request a vetted ally driver for enhanced personal safety.
As a woman who relies on ride-sharing apps, I strongly believe that this feature is worth testing and would be beneficial to ride-sharing businesses. It's a tough truth, but violence is by and large gendered. This feature would allow anyone else who feels vulnerable to minimize the risk of experiencing violence, which is statistically more likely to be perpetrated by men.
[more to be added about opportunity to increase female drivers, charge a fee, etc. ]