Uber Canada rolls out new safety measures geared toward students

As students prepare to head back to school, Uber Canada has announced a series of new measures with a focus on educating students on rideshare safety and crime prevention.

On Wednesday, the ride-share service and leading campus safety organizations announced joint partnerships that will help educate students on rideshare safety and safe practices when travelling both on and off campus.

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Uber is collaborating with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA) and the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) to rollout campus safety materials and provide tools to help encourage students to be safe.  

“We are excited to continue building on our safety commitment by partnering with key campus safety organizations with expertise in student and campus safety,” said Andrew Macdonald, SVP, Global Rides & Platform, Uber.

“Throughout the school year, we will be providing safety-focused materials that will be distributed to more than 4,000 campus safety leaders across the US and Canada.”

The new safety measures include the following:

Campus Education

A new safety toolkit that was made available to more than 500 campus safety leaders at universities across Canada. These safety-focused materials aim to help educate students on rideshare safety on and off campus.

In-app Safety Features

These will serve as additional reminders on the importance of verifying you are getting into the right car with the right driver before every Uber trip.

• In-app Safety Banner

From the moment a rider is matched with a driver, Uber will help keep safety top of mind by periodically highlighting a safety feature or tip in the app. The Check Your Ride banner will be part of this rotation — while the Check Your Ride push notification will remain available to riders to remind them to confirm their vehicle before getting into a car.

• Arriving Now Card

As an added reminder and to further reinforce the importance of checking and verifying your Uber’s information, the app’s Arriving Now card is being updated and will feature a raised graphic of the car and license plate as the vehicle approaches the pick-up spot. This update is rolling out in Canada in the coming weeks.

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