Uber Canada adds nighttime safety preferences to ride-hailing app

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New features added to Uber Canada’s ride-hailing app are intended to provide riders with improved safety, especially for late-night trips.

The new “Safety Preferences” page added to the app this week provides riders with the ability to customize safety-related features, which can be automatically turned on based on the time of day (such as every ride after 9 pm or only on weekends), location (such as within 50 metres of a bar or restaurant), or for every trip.

This means riders can maximize and optimize the use of the in-app safety-related features, especially if they are forgetful or distracted before and during a ride.

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With the new features, riders can now schedule audio recordings during a trip so that a recording can be sent to the company if something goes wrong during the ride. The encrypted recording will be locked to the driver and rider, with the company only able to access the recording if the rider reports an incident and chooses to share the recording.

Turning on “RideCheck” enables the app to detect if a ride goes off-course, stops unexpectedly, or ends early and sends an in-app check-in. The new safety preferences enable riders to be asked if they are okay more frequently.

Also, the new safety features can schedule the time of day when PIN verification is required, which gives riders the option to receive a four-digit code to provide to a driver before the trip can begin.

Additionally, the app’s “Share My Trip” function can now be automated for every trip, after a certain hour, or when leaving a bar and restaurant. This function provides the live location and trip details with a friend or family member.

These new customizable preferences were made available in Canada, the United States, and Latin America this week, and will be expanded to more markets very soon.

Later in 2024, as previously announced, Uber Canada will be adding new features to the driver interface of the ride-hailing app.

This will include providing ride-hailing drivers in British Columbia and Ontario with upfront information on the pick-up and drop-off locations and estimated fare prior to accepting the ride, and the ability to record the video of trips using the smartphone’s front-facing camera (towards the windshield), which reduces the need to buy a separate purpose-designed dashcam.

Also coming later in the year is a new seatbelt alert in the app to remind passengers to buckle up at the start of the trip.

Earlier this week, the provincial government of Newfoundland and Labrador gave Uber the green light to operate within its jurisdiction, paving the way for the company to launch its ride-hailing services within the province as early as late April.

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