By Dara Kerr

W hen you tap open the AsterRide app to hail a taxi， youll see something a bit different from other ride-hailing apps： a feature called InstaAlert.1 Its designed to help passengers notify friends or family that theyre in a taxi and to send an update once the rider arrives at a destination in one piece2.

AsterRide is marketing itself as a safe alternative in the ride-hailing industry.3 Its timing is auspicious—Uber， taxis and other ride-for-hire rivals have made headlines around the world over some of their drivers allegedly engaging in sexual assaults， kidnappings and beatings.4

Ride-hailing apps—like Uber， Lyft and Flywheel—let passengers use a smartphone to hail a taxi， black-car service or a personal driver using their own car. The companies behind these apps are aiming to convince passengers that the rides they hail are safe. But its a hard sell5. Though these companies say safety is their top priority， nearly every week theres a new story detailing a drivers alleged offense against a passenger.

AsterRide and a few others， including Shuddle， are part of a growing reaction to assuage customers concerns.6 Theyre beefing up safety features in their apps， such as adding panic buttons and passenger tracking， and theyre also looking to create more-secure services with heightened driver background checks and all-female driver fleets.7 Its unclear how many of these features will become industry standards， but they do represent a turning point in intensified attention to safety.

“Rider safety is becoming a paramount concern with users of app-based ride-sharing services，” said Tejas Mehta， an analyst with Parks Associates， a market research firm that specializes in emerging consumer technology products.8 “This has created an opening for competitors such as AsterRide and Flywheel.”

AsterRide launched in November 2013 by offering a similar service to its competitors： Passengers tap on a smartphone app that can hail a taxi or black-car service to take them to their location. But unlike its competitors， AsterRide aims to give customers peace of mind by promising to alert friends and family that theyre on their way.

So far， its service is only in Phoenix， Ariz.， but it will be expanding to cities in Florida， Illinois， California and other locations in a few months， the company says. Flywheel has a similar service in several California cities and in Seattle， Wash. Both AsterRide and Flywheel work only with existing taxi and black-car companies.

AsterRide is small potatoes compared with Uber， which is flush with nearly $5 billion in funding and operates its service in more than 250 cities around the world.9 So AsterRide is aiming to get a competitive edge10 by focusing on safety.

國內今年兩起女乘客被滴滴司機殘忍殺害的事件引起軒然大波，一時間滴滴公司經(jīng)營的種種安全漏洞浮出水面，在強大的輿論壓力下滴滴不得不宣布整改。在國外，同樣是網(wǎng)約車公司的Uber、AsterRide和Shuddle，也有不少危害乘客生命的惡性事件發(fā)生，后來它們又采取了什么樣的措施，來保護乘客的人身安全呢？而其中又有哪些舉措值得我們借鑒呢？

Seth Rudin， AsterRides CEO， said he chose to focus on safety after he spoke to several women traveling with their children.“Every time they got in a cab they didnt feel comfortable，” he said. Hed heard that some people were trying to protect themselves by snapping11 a photo of the taxi drivers license and sending it to friends. Rudin modeled his InstaAlert feature on this idea.

Passengers can set up InstaAlert to notify certain people whenever they request a ride， and then these people will get texts or emails when the ride starts and ends. The app also shows pickup and drop-off locations， along with real-time GPS tracking of the ride， drivers name， car type， license plate12 and taxi registration ID numbers.

At the end of the ride， the app asks the passenger to verify13 that they arrived safely at their destination. If the passenger says no or doesnt respond， AsterRide will contact the passengers family members or friends and urge them to call for help.

Uber has been in the spotlight for a string of incidents allegedly perpetrated by its drivers.14 Various media outlets have reported alleged rape， sexual harassment and groping in Washington D.C.， Chicago and Orlando， Fla.15 An Uber driver in India was accused of beating and raping a passenger， prompting16 officials to ban the service in the countrys capital of New Delhi.

A few Uber drivers have also allegedly brandished knives and guns， and punched， choked and beaten passengers，17 according to several media reports.

Uber said it is trying to fix the problem by exploring new methods to screen drivers， including biometrics， voice verification and possibly even polygraph exams.18 The company also said it was looking into ways to let passengers“communicate with us and their loved ones in the event of an emergency.”

Already， Uber can track every ride with GPS， and its app shows passengers the drivers photo， license plate number and vehicle type. Riders can also share their estimated time of arrival with friends and family， including a map of their trip in progress.

Recently Uber announced a new program in Chicago under which it will have “security specialists，” which include off-duty police officers， perform real-time audits of Uber rides.19

“Putting safety first for each of the one million trips we are doing every day means setting strict safety standards， then working hard to improve them every day，” Ubers head of global safety， Phillip Cardenas， said.“Uber is committed to developing new technology tools that improve safety； strengthen and increase the number of cities and countries where background checks are conducted； and improve communication with local officials and law enforcement20.”

Uber and AsterRide arent the only ride-hailing companies that say theyre boosting safety—other startups21 are also thinking of innovative ways to make rides more secure.

After the alleged rape incident in India， one of the countrys largest taxi companies， Meru Cabs， launched a female-only ride service called Meru Eve， according to the Wall Street Journal 22. The taxis， which are driven by women and pick up female passengers， come equipped with pepper spray23 and panic buttons that alert the company if theres a problem.

Another company that has an all-female driver fleet is a San Francisco， Calif.-based ride-hailing app called Shuddle， which focuses on passengers who cant normally drive themselves around， like children and seniors. To ensure the safety of its customers， the company says， it has stringent driver background screenings and ride monitoring systems.24

Shuddle requires that every driver have child care or caregiver experience and a clean background check that includes no misdemeanors25. For every ride， the passenger and driver are given passwords so they can verify each other. Also， all rides are live-monitored by Shuddle and theres a call desk26 that people can reach out to at any time. Company CEO Nick Allen said this amount of scrutiny makes it safer not only for passengers but for drivers too.

“Theres no magic bullet27，”Allen said. “You have to do a number of things well.”

1. 當你點開AsterRide頁面叫車時，你會發(fā)現(xiàn)這款軟件和其他打車軟件略有不同——多出一個叫做即時警告的功能。hail： 招呼；AsterRide： 一打車軟件名稱，下文的Uber、Lyft和Flywheel也都是提供打車服務功能的軟件。

2. in one piece： 完好無損地，安全地。

3. AsterRide力求將自己打造為打車行業(yè)中最安全的選擇。market： v. 推銷，宣傳；alternative：可行的選擇。

4. 它選擇的時機很好——優(yōu)步、出租車行業(yè)，以及其他存在競爭關系的打車軟件，都紛紛因為司機被控涉嫌性侵犯、綁架和暴力事件而登上世界各地的報紙頭條。auspicious： 吉利的，幸運的；make headlines： 成為頭條新聞；allegedly： 據(jù)稱。

5. hard sell： 強行推銷，即在推銷時給買家施加壓力。

6. 和AsterRide一樣，一些新出現(xiàn)的打車軟件，包括Shuddle等，都在不斷提供應對措施以緩解乘客們對打車安全的擔心。Shuddle： 專門針對孩子的打車軟件；assuage： 平息，緩解。

7. beef up： 加強，增加；panic button： 恐慌按鈕，緊急呼叫按鈕；heighten： 加強；fleet： 車隊。

8. paramount： 最重要的，主要的；emerging：新興的；consumer technology product： 消費者技術型產(chǎn)品，即針對消費者個人需求而開發(fā)的產(chǎn)品，而非為了滿足政府或公司利益。

9. small potatoes：（常作復數(shù)）無足輕重的人或事；be flush with：充斥著，富有……。

10. edge： 優(yōu)勢。

11. snap： 拍攝。

12. license plate： 汽車牌照。

13. verify： 確認。

14. in the spotlight： 處于風口浪尖；a string of： 一連串的；perpetrate： 犯罪，作惡。

15. outlet： 地方廣播電臺（或電視臺）；sexual harassment： 性騷擾；groping： 動手動腳，色狼行為。

16. prompt： 促使。

17. brandish： 揮舞（武器）；punch： 用拳打；choke： 掐脖子。

18. screen： 篩查；biometrics： 生物識別技術；polygraph： 測謊。

19. off-duty： 下班的；audit： 審核。

20. law enforcement： 執(zhí)法部門。

21. startup： 新興公司。

22. Wall Street Journal： 《華爾街日報》，美國著名財經(jīng)報紙。

23. pepper spray： 防狼噴霧。

24. stringent： 嚴格的；monitor： 監(jiān)控。

25. misdemeanor： 輕罪，不正當?shù)男袨椤?/p>

26. call desk： 呼叫臺，服務臺。

27. magic bullet： 靈丹妙藥。