Baby Boomers Driving the World….of Ride Hailing?
My dear friend and colleague Professor Mark Bauer sent me this article from the Huffington Post about the newest market share for Uber and Lyft: Boomers! Once The Domain Of Millennials, Uber And Lyft Are Now Pursuing Seniors includes my favorite line of the day about Boomers: “It’s the Baby Boomers’ world. We’re just living in it.”
“Ride-hailing services want to make sure Grandma Betty can get to bridge club just as easily as her 22-year-old grandson travels to and from … whatever it is young folks are doing these days. … Once the domain of 20-somethings who might have a drink or two and need a safe ride home, companies like Lyft and Uber have set their sights on a different age range entirely: senior citizens.”
The article explains how the 2 companies have entered into agreements with companies-Uber with a home care company and Lyft with a company that books rides for elders without smart phones. The article notes that there are also other ride-hailing companies beyond these 2 that are providing ride-sharing services for those elders who don’t have smart phones.
The companies are boldly moving into this market demographic. In fact they’ve started “offering non-emergency medical transport services, specifically targeting customers whose rides would be reimbursed by Medicaid.”
Consider also what Lyft is doing with the city of Centennial, Colorado, “where 15 years from now at least 30 percent of the population is projected to be over the age of 65….[C]ity officials are exploring replacing current dial-a-ride services with less expensive, more efficient rides via Lyft.”
“We call Centennial the Silver Tsunami,” Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon told The Atlantic blog CityLab. “As people age, one thing to go is the ability to drive. That means losing your freedom to get to doctor’s appointments and to stay social with friends. We really want to help keep the people who started Centennial engaged in it.”
We all know how the loss of driving ability can impact a person on a number of levels. I wonder whether this transportation option will be financially feasible enough to become a widespread solution. If so, it will be great, because not only does this provide transportation, but has the added benefit of socialization. I am still holding on for the availability of self-driving cars.