Relax my lady, your chariot is here

DIEGO LUNA | BUSINESS EDITOR | THE USD VISTA | @diegotothemoon

Chariot For Women is a new ridesharing service that is similar to Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar. However, its business structure is radically different than its competitors’ for one simple reason: Chariot For Women specifically caters to the female population. This was the untapped market that Uber and Lyft neglected.

Interestingly enough, there is a similar app called Chariot. Although Chariot is also a ridesharing service, its primary focus is to provide transportation for large groups.

To clarify, Chariot For Women is not the same as Chariot.

Chariot For Women is currently crowdsourcing for a new name. I think this is a necessary change because I can already imagine future altercations between Chariot For Women and Chariot.

There are some individuals who have very strong opinions against Chariot For Women and claim that it’s unconstitutional for them to exclude men from taking part in any of their operations.

Personally, I believe the conclusion following those premises are faulty for a few reasons. For example, the restaurant Hooters is not allowed to hire male staff based on legal grounds concerning “business necessity,” this principle should also hold true for other business practices.

Chariot For Women argues that its primary focus is safety of its drivers and their passengers. One example of its safety measures would be the use of a “safe word”. Every time the driver starts her day, she has to answer a random security question that changes daily to ensure her identity. When the passenger requests a ride, a safe word pops up on the driver and passenger’s phone. If the driver says the correct word, the ride may begin.

I agree with Chariot For Women in that there should be opportunities for female empowerment and safety. Chariot For Women is doing just that, challenging the status-quo by stomping on the double standard society has conditioned us to accept.