Uber is providing an answer for folks who need assistance driving children round: Let their drivers do it.
Beginning Monday, dad and mom and caregivers in 28 metro areas within the U.S. and Canada can invite teenagers underneath 18 to create particular person Uber accounts linked to a central household profile.
The brand new accounts let teenagers request rides on Uber and order meals deliveries on Uber Eats. Beforehand, folks needed to be 18 to join an Uber account and experience unaccompanied. Many dad and mom already ignored the rule, the corporate stated.
Sachin Kansal, vice chairman of product administration at Uber, famous that teenagers are already driving. Till now, he stated, the app didn’t present guardians correct instruments for supervising their youngsters or enhanced security options for youthful riders. “And it’s an issue for drivers as a result of they don’t know there’s a teen entering into the automotive,” he added.
New protections
The brand new accounts notify dad and mom when teenagers request rides and ship cellphone notifications after they attain their vacation spot. Journeys will likely be charged to the default cost methodology within the mum or dad or guardian’s household profile.
Different guardrails will restrict teenagers to taking journeys inside their residence metro areas, and the younger passengers will likely be given a PIN that drivers should match. Uber stated teenagers can deliver as much as three mates with them, so long as they’re 13 or older and sitting within the again seat. They’ll solely request UberX or Uber Inexperienced rides—and so they’ll be charged customary charges together with surge costs, the corporate stated. There’s no spending restrict, however they’ll’t request the premium Uber Consolation, Uber Reserve or UberXL.
Driver standards
Drivers can decide in in the event that they’re amenable to taking requests for teen rides. Uber stated it will solely approve extremely rated drivers who’ve carried out lots of of rides. New drivers gained’t be eligible. Kansal declined to share further driver necessities.
Drivers will have the ability to fee teen accounts, however these scores gained’t have an effect on the mum or dad or household profile, he stated.
Parental supervision
Dad and mom and caregivers can monitor teenagers’ journeys in actual time, and may name the driving force if wanted. Uber may also use software program to observe teen journeys for potential anomalies, resembling extended stops forward of the vacation spot. Drivers can’t change the vacation spot of the journey; solely teenagers can.
Another excessive safeguard: Within the app, the teenager can decide into automated audio recordings of each experience. The information are saved encrypted on the kid’s gadget. Uber stated it will have the ability to receive the recording provided that the consumer opens an incident report. In any other case, it may possibly’t be accessed by anybody.
When teenagers flip 18, their accounts will likely be transformed to straightforward Uber accounts. They are going to stay a part of their household profiles until they resolve to go away.
The place and the way
The primary cities within the U.S. to get teen accounts embrace New York and its suburbs, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix and Kansas Metropolis, Mo., together with eight different metro areas. Vancouver, British Columbia, Montreal and 12 different Canadian cities additionally may have the brand new service earlier than it expands to different locations within the coming months. Uber piloted the characteristic in San Antonio and different cities, a spokesman stated.
On Monday, the choice for a household profile ought to seem in settings underneath Account in an up to date Uber app. Observe the directions so as to add a member of the family and ship her or him an invitation code.
Teen accounts come alongside different new instruments from Uber, together with the flexibility to request autos with automotive seats in New York and Los Angeles. Uber additionally arrange a toll-free quantity (1-833-USE-UBER) for callers to request a experience on demand or reserve one for a future journey.
For extra WSJ Expertise evaluation, opinions, recommendation and headlines, join our weekly e-newsletter.
Write to Dalvin Brown at dalvin.brown@wsj.com
Supply: Live Mint