Safety of female ride-hailing passengers: Perception and prevention

Abstract Ride-hailing, as part of wider transitions to smart city, has emerged as a beneficial complement to urban public transport. However, the frequent occurrence of ride-hailing safety accidents in multiple countries has raised concerns about passenger safety on an international scale. Within this context, this study aims to investigate female passengers’ safety perception and prevention action when using ride-hailing services, helping establish better management and protection mechanisms for passenger safety. Using objective data from 7898 ride-hailing criminal adjudications (674 passenger victimizations) and subjective data from 596 Chinese female respondents, the safety perception scale and prevention tendency scale, with six potential variables, are developed to further examine the heterogeneity of perception and prevention. Results reveal that driver’s words and actions directly influence female passengers’ safety judgments regarding ride-hailing services and that traveling with companions significantly enhances their perceived safety. The main preventative actions identified include relying on mobile phones for information and communication, as well as avoiding risky ride-hailing situations. Furthermore, the analysis of individual heterogeneity has uncovered perception and prevention differences based on factors such as age, education level, residence conditions, ride-hailing frequency, and victimization experiences. These differences are evident in perception biases towards driver attitudes and accompanying travel, as well as variations in risk avoidance behaviors. The insights inductively derived hold fundamental conceptual and empirical value for scholarship on safety evaluation and crime prevention in the context of shared mobility. Additionally, the countermeasures proposed in this study can serve as a theoretical reference for enhancing the safety supervision of ride-hailing services, contributing to the establishment of safer, more reliable and more sustainable shared travel environment.