Good News: The Tech to Change Your Grandma’s Life Is Already Here
In the articles it discuss how grandmothers have trouble traveling around from A to B due to disability problems or just not knowing how to dive. The city have a new way of transportation for senior citizens called paratransit. It’s like the bus or subway, but more personalized such as home pickups and making reservations in advanced and more expensive. The problem with this new and easy paratransit is its too much money. The brooking Institution estimates American agencies spent 5.2 billion on paratransit in 2013-12.2 percent of all money spent on transit that year. Nana’s Uber has already started working with transit to try to help fill in the gaps(Marshall, 2016). They have teamed up with companies such as Uber, Lyft and Bridj to cut the cost of paratransit services.
The communication problem with the article is many riders have complained that rideshare services are not wheelchair-friendly. Another problem is the mobile app usage. Majority of these companies require you to have a cingular device to request for a ride. The paratransit riders are senior citizens majority of them 65 years and older. Paratransit riders are more likely to be low-income, and may not have the money or access to afford smartphones(Marshall, 2016). The assistant director spoke on the situation and stated she believes every rideshare driver permitted to carry paratransit customers should be trained to deal with disabilities.
https://www.wired.com/2016/09/ridesharing-paratransit-seniors/