New York City — Uber is rolling out new security features that allow users to talk to a live security agent and send text messages to 911 operators in the event of an emergency.
Rebecca Payne, lead project manager on the safety team at Uber, told ABC News about how some features, according to the popular ride-sharing platform, could help riders feel more comfortable and could provide more access to emergency services.
One feature, which Uber says will be rolled out in more than half the country, including New York City and California, will allow users to text 911 operators for immediate emergency response.
Uber says about 60% of the US will be able to use it.
“Text-to-911 is something we started testing in 2019 in counties that allowed text messages to be sent to 911 call centers,” Payne said. “So with this announcement, we are now expanding that to all counties that have this technology available now.”
When riders use the text-to-911 feature in the app, a pre-written message will be generated that includes information about the trip, such as vehicle information and location.
It’s a good way for users to get emergency help “with caution,” Payne said.
Another new feature, called Live Assistance, will allow passengers, drivers and the gate to speak to a safety agent through a partnership with security company ADT.
Riders can send a message via the Uber app and receive a call or text with a trained safety agent, according to Uber. Users can then stay on the phone with this agent until they feel comfortable or until their trip is over.
“They can use this in any situation that has not yet escalated into the need to get the police or other emergency services like the fire department or ambulance, but they may feel unsafe or uncomfortable and need someone to talk to them about the situation,” Payne said. .
She said user response to the feature, which was piloted in nine US cities at the end of last year, has been “extremely positive”.
The features have been added to the app’s security toolkit, which was introduced in 2018.
In Uber’s latest safety report, the company stated that 99.9% of an average of nearly 3 million rides per day had no reports of safety-related incidents, including car crashes, physical assaults, or sexual assaults.
But the report also found that in 2019 and 2020, the company reported 3,824 sexual assault incidents. Uber has reported similar rates of such incidents in previous years.
To access the new security features, users need to update their Uber apps. Payne said it also recommends users to explore the app’s suite of security tools.
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