Bradley Cooper’s new documentary sheds light on the care crisis
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Yvette Pegues, 38, lives in a wheelchair full-time and travels frequently for work. Recently, on her way to a meeting in Miami, she ordered a wheelchair accessible ride and said she spent nearly $100 to go near 12 miles.
Pegues, an executive at the disability advocacy group The ARC, said there are plenty of unfortunate rideshare interactions. She has experienced high prices for cancelled rides, rude drivers and additional assistance.
“To be honest, the worst part is that once you actually get an Uber ride, your driver doesn’t always want to help,” she said.
Even if she could “swing into the car” herself, she said she needed help from the driver to get a chair in the trunk or in the back seat.
“I’m really like their mercy,” Peg said.
Drivers of UberWav, which provide wheelchair accessible vehicles, must complete a third-party certification course on how to help riders get in and out of vehicles, according to the company. Uber can disable the accounts of drivers who refuse to be transported to riders due to age or disability. And in recent years, Uber has made progress in supporting riders in other ways, including its ability to report safety concerns in real time and support domestic violence survivors amid Covid-19.
On June 4th, Uber launched its latest accessibility feature, the Senior Account nationwide. These accounts are part of Uber’s family profile and provide older people with a more streamlined version of the app with larger text, fewer steps and easy-to-understand screens. Their loved ones can help them order rides and get real-time updates during their senior journeys. However, while the company’s efforts to support a diverse range of riders look good on paper, experts in the world of aging and disability are not convinced that Uber has the ability to not take help from all riders.
Justin Boogaard, co-founder and CEO of GogograndParent, a third-party platform that helps seniors access ride-sharing apps and access other smartphone services for food delivery, said it’s great to see companies like Uber and Lyft invest in accessibility features for seniors and people with disabilities. But he said most clients his company works for need more help than what an app redesign can offer.
The booguard said when clients schedule Uber rides, they have difficulty communicating with the driver, checking rides and connecting payment plans – tasks that require over-shoulder assistance. And because these clients often don’t have any choice, a cancelled ride is a big deal.
“Reliability is more important than anything else, especially for older people. It’s more important than convenience,” Booguard said.
According to him, the worst is that the driver shows up and refuses to help or drive without trying to help. It’s where Gogogrand Parent comes in by booking rides for older Americans and communicating rider needs to the driver. If the driver doesn’t help with wheelchairs or other accommodation, GogograndParent said it could easily redirect requests to another driver who would be happy to assist.
“The elderly are happy to wait 15 minutes if the driver who appears is about to load a walker,” he said.
Accessibility is about choices,” says Uber Rep.
Elderly people often face transport barriers that can exacerbate health issues and loneliness.
An estimated 18.6 million Americans self-reported travel restrictions impairment, according to the ‘2022 National Travel Survey. Of those respondents, 8 million were over 65 years old, most reported health issues as the biggest reason for traveling less. A 2019 survey by the University of Southern California found that 150 patients over the age of 60 were given three months of free, unlimited Lyft rides, with 12% of rides being used for medical appointments. Participants in this study used LYFT to perform errands, make social visits, and participate in fitness classes and other entertainment events.
This study found that 90% of participants reported improved quality of life.
Transportation is key to independence, and older people lose their driving ability, often the beginning of the beginning of the end of autonomy, says CEO and co-founder Seth Sternberg.
Uber’s senior accounts are built for individuals who live independently and do not require as much support as those who are trying to access wheelchair accessible vehicles or connected to caregiver accounts. Senior accounts allow seniors to save on frequent destinations and allow their loved ones to continue on the app during their ride to get real-time updates for each trip.
Elderly people who are not part of their family profiles can turn on “Simple Mode” in their accessibility settings, allowing them to use a more streamlined version of the app.
Uber’s family profile also has accounts for teens and caregivers. Family organizers can invite their loved ones to join their account via the app. The company said it will collect feedback from new senior accounts to inform you of ongoing work on how to improve the user experience for seniors and people with disabilities.
“The senior accounts and simple mode represent important milestones in Uber’s continued commitment to accessible transportation,” said Ashu Manohar, Uber’s Head of Product Management. “These traits reflect our commitment to meeting people they are and designing technologies that support mobility at every stage of life.”
For some riders, Uber’s accessibility features create a world of difference.
Three times a week, Michael Kwirge orders Uber to his home in New York City to take his mother to dialysis.
His mother, 93-year-old Betty Kbilje, suffers from dementia, kidney disease and heart failure. She lives with Khbilje and his wife and sister.
“I own a car, but I find it difficult to get her in and out because she has a lot of pain,” he said.
Using Uber’s wheelchair accessible vehicle feature, he said, “You can roll her into the back of the vehicle and flip her over, making it more convenient.” Wheelchair accessible vehicles are much easier to access in New York than in other parts of the country, Peg said.
Cuvilje always joins Uber as she needs to assist and appoint her to enter and exit the vehicle. He has not yet used the family profile or advanced account features, but he said he is interested, especially as his sister is 63 years old and is difficult to avoid. He said he was in the process of setting up her on the app.
“We really believe that user accessibility is about choice,” said Briana Gilmore, head of Uber’s public policy, accessibility and underserved communities.
Gilmore says he is excited to share the features of his advanced account with his mother, and hopes he has more options when he was a caregiver for his father.
“A lot of us built this with us in mind that we were caregivers,” Gilmore said.
Transportation problems are greater than ride share
It’s a “big step in the right direction,” Sternberg said. However, if you have more specialized needs to help riders get in and out of the wheelchair, it is “a completely different product” from what traditional ride-sharing companies are making. And with Uber contracting drivers, it’s difficult to control how individual interactions work.
“You have to ask yourself, where does one service start another?” Sternberg said.
The responsibility for transporting elderly Americans and people with disabilities is not perfect for ride-sharing companies like Uber. Perhaps ridesharing apps aren’t the best products for these users, but companies specializing in the care of individuals with disabilities should help resolve transportation barriers.
In some cities, wheelchair access vehicles are limited or not available at all. Peg said she’s used medical transport services before, but that could cost hundreds of dollars. And not all people with disabilities are old, she said. That was when the country’s transportation infrastructure and services were catching up to “make us more independent.”
“To solve that problem, I think that’s what you start to really need help – especially for the elderly who are on the poverty line – you really start to need the help of an insurance company or government to make those economics work,” Booguard said.
And so is the kindness of individuals, Sternberg said. And it helps everyone, not just older Americans and people with disabilities.
In an ideal world, Sternberg said, “I can politely trust this driver who is actually coming to pick me up.”
Madeline Mitchell’s role in covering women and caregiving economy at USA Today is supported by partnership with An extremely important venture and Journalism Funding Partner. Funders do not provide editor input. You reach Madeline with memitchell@usatoday.com and @maddiemitch_ x.
