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Chariot for Women’s founder, Michael Pelletz, and president, Kelly Pelletz.(Photo: Carly Gillis)
BOSTON — While Uber and Lyft's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>safety policies face a myriad of scrutiny here, the founder of a new ride-sharing service says his company fills an overlooked gap in the industry: a focus on women’s safety.
Chariot for Women, based in Massachusetts, is an Uber-like service that only hires women drivers. The intent is to give female passengers peace of mind by ensuring another woman is always behind the wheel.
Founder Michael Pelletz, who was an Uber driver for eight months,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>came up with the idea for this company after he picked up a male passenger who<span style="color: Red;">*</span>seemed like he was on the edge of a drug overdose.
“One thought kept coming up in his head: ‘What if I was a woman?' ” the company’s website says. “Just one bad apple behind the wheel and those women would not be safe at all.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>3 a.m. in Boston is a candy store for predators.”
Besides<span style="color: Red;">*</span>women drivers, Chariot for Women, which is set to launch around the country April 19,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>will only pick up<span style="color: Red;">*</span>female passengers or boys under the age of 13.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>?If a woman orders<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the service<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and is with a male above<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the age of 13, Pelletz said,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the male would be denied a ride.
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Of the 20,000 Uber drivers<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Massachusetts, 7,000 are female, said Carlie Waibel, a spokeswoman for Uber. Across the U.S., 29% of drivers who joined in fall 2015 were women. About 60% of Lyft passengers are women, and 30% of drivers are female —the highest percentage in the ride-sharing industry, said Alexandra LaManna, a Lyft spokeswoman.
More than 1,000 women have already signed up for Chariot for Women.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Pelletz said<span style="color: Red;">*</span>his company has the most “stringent background checks in the industry” and will fingerprint every driver.
Following a series of incidents involving drivers and passengers, Boston has turned a stern eye to ride-sharing services.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A big point of contention has been Uber and Lyft's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>reluctance to fingerprint its drivers.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A bill<span style="color: Red;">*</span>currently<span style="color: Red;">*</span>pending in the Massachusetts Legislature<span style="color: Red;">*</span>is looking to regulate both Uber and Lyft by intensifying company<span style="color: Red;">*</span>background check policies<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>placing limits on surge pricing.
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Although Chariot for Women's background check policies are seemingly more strict than other ride-sharing services, Joseph L. Sulman, an employment law specialist based outside of Boston,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>told the Boston Globe that refusing to hire men as a driver could be a potential legal problem.
According to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, the state's<span style="color: Red;">*</span>anti-discrimination laws prohibit discriminating against a potential employee<span style="color: Red;">*</span>on the basis of sex — except in situations where sex is a“bona fide occupational qualification,” which is a qualification<span style="color: Red;">*</span>employers are allowed to consider when hiring<span style="color: Red;">*</span>employees.
“The law is really tough on that,” Sulman told the Globe. “For gender, it’s not enough to say, ‘We really just want to have a female here because our customers prefer that to feel safer.’”
Pelletz<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said that according to his lawyers, his company is running<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a legal business model<span style="color: Red;">*</span>that fulfills a<span style="color: Red;">*</span>market need.
"We believe that giving women and their loved ones peace of mind is not only a public policy imperative<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but serves an essential social interest," he said, reading a company statement.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Our service is intented to protect these fundamental liberties and we look forward to ending the inequality of security that currently afflicts drivers and riders on the basis of gender."
Cori Harris, 20, a sophomore at Boston University, matches the <span style="color: Red;">*</span>demographic Pelletz said could<span style="color: Red;">*</span>benefit from using his service<span style="color: Red;">*</span>— a young, college-aged woman, who is likely to request a ride alone or with other girlfriends<span style="color: Red;">*</span>late at night.
Harris said she frequently uses ride-sharing services, and only once felt unsafe when her male Uber driver<span style="color: Red;">*</span>suddenly became loud and aggressive. While this experience hasn't deterred her from using Uber, she said it has made her more wary of the potential risks.
"Uber is definitely safer than walking home,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>but if there was another service that was as convenient as Uber and offered the same service<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and I knew I would have a woman driver, I would definitely consider it," she said. "Why not take that extra step to be safe — especially as a woman in college?"
Follow USA Today reporter Trisha Thadani on Twitter: @TrishaThadani
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