Staying Fit
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Discomfort with technology • Low-tech Lyft • Uber’s smartphone needs
Not everyone is comfortable using a smartphone app to summon a ride to the grocery store, a doctor’s office or a visit with friends and family.
With older adults in mind, Uber, the most popular ride-hailing service, has rolled out a solution without software. Uber rides can now be booked by calling a toll-free number, says the company’s CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi.
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Uber conducted months of testing in places where older riders gather and spoke directly with those it expected to use the service.
Ride-hailing services
“Not everyone is comfortable using a phone or an app to call an Uber, like my mother-in-law,” he said in 2023. “And for her we have a product that’s incredibly easy to use. It’s 833-USE-UBER.”
Uber has about 75 percent of the ride-hailing market in the United States, far ahead of chief rival Lyft, which has about a quarter share, according to March 2024 data from Bloomberg Second Measure analytics.
Lyft users also can avoid the app
Lyft approaches its potential market of older adults who need a ride but are uncomfortable with technology a little differently, says spokesman Donny Nordlicht. Lyft partners with Best Buy Health to offer users of a Lively Jitterbug phone an operator-assisted way to book a Lyft ride, one of several ways Lyft customers can hitch a ride without the app.
Learn online
Senior Planet from AARP has occasional online classes on using ride-hailing apps.
1. Go to the Senior Planet classes page.
2. Type ride hailing in the 🔍 Search for classes box.
3. Click on the red Find Classes button.
Don’t be discouraged if you don’t see a class offered. Check back in a few weeks, look for a location near you under the In-Person Classes drop-down menu, or call the Senior Planet Hotline number listed on the page to request the topic.
Other methods involve health care providers and transit agencies that work with Lyft to arrange patients’ rides, Nordlicht says. People without smartphones can get a call on a landline to learn the pickup details.
Lyft also provides free or discounted rides through 211, a free referral and information line that connects older adults and others to local health and human services resources through a partnership with United Way.
Lively Jitterbug phone users press zero to ring a care adviser, not a telephone company operator. If the caller needs a ride, the care adviser contacts Lyft. The Lively adviser tells the caller the driver’s name; estimated arrival time; make, model and license plate of the car; and the trip’s estimated cost. The adviser stays on the line to convey any updates until the customer is picked up.
As with the app, no cash or credit card is needed. The cost of the Lyft ride is added to the user’s phone bill.
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