A Black women-owned ride-share service is working to make rides safer.
“It was a compliment at first because most women would get into my car and they would just express, you know, gratitude for me being a woman and for feeling safe and comfortable. And I mean it was a compliment, but after hearing that a couple of times and hearing it often, I became frustrated,” said Trenelle Doyle, founder of Go Girl Ride.
Doyle says the stories she was hearing as a ride-share driver from her passengers of being harassed or assaulted on their rides made her realize there had to be another ride option.
Her service will focus on serving women and LGBTQ+ individuals.
The drivers for Go Girl Ride will go through a background check they would for a typical ride-share, but the drivers will also go through an interview process.
She is partnering with an organization called Cupcake Girls that works with both current and former sex workers to keep them safe.
The plan is to launch Go Girl Ride first in Portland, Oregon, on Juneteenth.
“For me, what better way to launch and say we are here on a day, that is, about the liberation of Black Americans and it's not just Black Americans who Juneteenth means so much to,” said Doyle.
After Portland, they plan to expand to other cities where there are high rates of sex trafficking, and then to more places nationwide.
Doyle says it can be intimidating to pitch your idea, and she hopes her story will inspire others like her.
“If you know that you have something, and you know that it's not just impacting yourself, but that it can radically change the lives of other people, like if life isn't about us right, if you know, you have something in your call to do it, I don't care what you don't have, focus on what you do have, which is your passion and which is your mind,” said Doyle.
Last year, American Express selected Doyle as one of its 100 for 100 Founders of Change. Go Girl Ride received $25,000 and 100 days of resources.
