Rideshare company Lyft announced a new feature this week that lets female and  nonbinary riders choose drivers with the same gender.

The feature, called Women+ Connect, will be rolled out to all users in the next few months and be accessible in the Lyft app. The feature was “highly requested” per Lyft, with the company saying it hopes it encourages more women to become drivers. According to the firm, just 23% of its drivers are women.

Nonbinary refers to a gender identity not solely male or female.

Lyft added that both the driver and rider must opt in for the feature to function properly. The company also cautioned that the feature won’t guarantee that riders will get the gender of their choice if no available drivers are in the area.

The announcement comes as ridesharing companies are under continual scrutiny for their record of rider safety.

According to Lyft’s own numbers, the company received over 4,000 reports of sexual assault from 2017 to 2019. 

• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.