For older adults who have trouble driving, getting to a doctor’s appointment or visiting a friend can be a challenge. Public transit might not be an option, but rideshare apps come with their own roadblocks. Beth Golay recently helped a friend navigate Uber for Seniors, and tells us how the new service is changing … to meet customers halfway.
Jeanine Hathaway was a professor of English at Wichita State University for 37 years. In her retirement, she is very active, driving herself to yoga, coffee meetups, and continuing education as long as there is daylight, which this time of year ends around 5 o'clock.
Hathaway: “It began becoming clear to me, because I'm in my 80s, that I should probably have somebody besides my neighbor to drive me places in the dark before my daughter has to ask me for my keys. That is a situation that is fraught for so many parents and their kids, and I don't want to put my kid through that.”
So Jeanine mentioned the problem to her physician.
Hathaway: “And my physician said, ‘Do you know about Uber for Seniors?’ Everything went blank,” says Hathaway. “No, I never heard of such a thing. And she said, ‘Look it up.’"
And that's when she turned to me, over coffee. Jeanine said, "I need you to help me figure out Uber for Seniors.” I thought she was using Uber as a generic term, but no. I looked it up, and Uber, the platform known for its on-demand ride-hailing, has features that cater to seniors. So the two of us installed it together. Once everything was updated, we could click on the account icon and set up a senior account. Jeanine could specify if she was hard of hearing or had vision impairments, if she would be carrying a cane or a service animal, she could request how the driver notified her when they arrived, like with a honk or a phone call, and she could make the font larger on the app. Now Jeanine is set up on her own account, but families can add seniors to their accounts and track their rides for peace of mind. After her phone was set up, we were ready for the first ride. I met Jeanine at her house and we hailed a ride through the app.
Here's where the technology needs some improvement. Our driver didn't know that Janine was a senior.
Another feature that's part of Uber for seniors is that you can actually call for a ride, an actual phone number. So we tried it. After a brief one-time setup, the ride was on its way.
Jeanine said to the driver: “Okay, I have a question, sir. Are you alerted to the fact that I'm a senior? You're not?”
This time, I could see that Uber identified Jeanine as a senior, but the driver didn't know what he was looking at, so it seems like there's still room for improvement.
But that didn't diminish Jeanine's first Uber ride.
“That was great! I want to befriend her forever.”
Discover more about Uber for Seniors.
