Uber has launched a ride-share service for children between 13 and 17 years old in Australia to accommodate the needs of busy parents.
The service, Uber for Teens, officially began operating on April 23 after going through trials in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
While Uber for Teens is only available in the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, and South Australia at launch due to working with children requirements, parents in other states and territories could sign up for the service in the later months.
Emma Foley, the mobility operations director at Uber Australia and New Zealand, said there was a high demand for ride-share services for minors.
The director cited a survey of 1,041 parents, which showed that over half of the respondents had difficulties driving their children to activities due to work schedules.
“We know there are so many parents out there who are juggling work and who are juggling multiple kids trying to get to after-school activities,” she said in comments obtained by AAP.
“Whether it’s two parents with three kids or a single parent with multiple kids, trying to get your kids to Saturday morning sports across different parts of town can be a big challenge.”
According to Ms. Foley, the new ride-share service will have safeguard features to help ensure the safety of children, including sharing live GPS tracking of children’s rides with parents, notifying parents or guardians of route changes and allowing them to phone a driver.
The service will also require children to use a PIN (personal identification number) to verify their driver whenever they book a service.
In addition, only experienced and highly rated Uber drivers with accreditations such as Working with Children Check or Working with Vulnerable People registration will be allowed to provide services to underage riders.
“This product won’t be for everyone because parents feel comfortable with the maturity of their kids at different ages, so it will be a choice for individual families,” she said.
Uber to Compensate Australian Taxi Drivers $272 Million
Uber’s announcement comes a month after the company agreed to pay $272 million (US$175 million) to taxi drivers across the country to settle what was considered one of the largest class actions in Australian legal history.The class action, which first began as a single lawsuit by a taxi driver in Melbourne in 2019, grew to include more than 8,000 other taxi and charter vehicle drivers.
The drivers claimed they had suffered income losses and that their licence value had decreased after Uber launched cheaper and more convenient services.
The case was due to run until May 17, but Uber agreed to settle in advance.
Uber first launched its service in Australia in 2012 despite not having the necessary permits, sparking angry protests from the taxi industry.
In 2015, the Australian Capital Territory permitted rise sharing services to operate, followed by New South Wales and the rest of the country.
