Jillian Anderson, co-founder of HERide, said it’s high time women ‘needed a different kind of experience” in their daily commuting lives.

Anderson, a former basketball player and Lyft driver, co-founded HERide, a female-centric driving app based in Atlanta, Georgia, after hearing reports of assault and harassment from female ridesharing riders and drivers alike.

“Over and over when I was driving, I would get passengers who had canceled rides before mine because they were trying to get a female driver. Especially if they were riding at night,” Anderson, 29, told Know Your Value, MSNBC reported.

Uber disclosed data in June revealing that 3,824 people reported sexual assaults on their platform during 2019 and 2020, with women accounting for 91% of alleged rape victims. Lyft recorded 4,158 attacks on its platform between 2017 and 2019 in 2021.

HERide's beta testing began in March of this year. HERide solely hires female drivers. In turn, any passenger can use the app, but drivers have the freedom to refuse trips to anyone who gives them a bad feeling – a perk that the major ridesharing apps do not provide, according to Anderson.

“We’re addressing the problem head-on, first on a local level in Atlanta, and we’d expand to other cities once we prove profitability,” Anderson said. “We’re currently seeking investors who want to keep women founders as the heads of the company.”

According to Anderson, HERide encountered difficulties in getting on the road during the epidemic, but despite that roadblock, the app has grown into 73 independent contractor drivers. HERide has given 500 trips in the Atlanta region thus far with three employees on the payroll.

Anderson claims that HERide charges similar fees to Lyft and Uber in Atlanta. HERide, on the other hand, takes 20% of revenues from each ride, whereas Lyft and Uber have been known to grab greater amounts in certain locations, including 48% in San Francisco.

DeVynne Starks, a marketing director, co-founded HERide in 2020.