China to further facilitate ride-hailing services for seniors
- By Zhu Bochen
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E-mail China.org.cn, December 29, 2020
China's transport watchdog sat with the country's eight major ride-hailing operators last Friday to exchange ideas on how to help seniors travel more conveniently using smart technologies.
The two sides plan to work on three aspects of ride-hailing for seniors, namely optimizing mobile ride-hailing apps to be elderly-friendly, introducing extra taxi services that can be accessed via phone calls, and prioritizing seniors' taxi orders made via ride-hailing platforms.
A "one-click ride-hailing" function in relevant mobile apps is expected to be introduced to seniors before the Spring Festival, China's Ministry of Transport (MOT) announced on its website.
For seniors who have trouble using smartphones or accessing the internet, the MOT urges traditional call-based taxi dispatching platforms to accept taxi appointments or to take real-time orders for seniors. It is also working with local charity institutions to introduce one-on-one ride-hailing services for seniors, especially near hospitals.
In addition, the MOT also notes that traditional payment methods for public transport, such as cash, will be protected for convenience.
The need for elderly-friendly adaptations of smart technologies has come to the fore in recent years as China works to cope with its aging population. Most recently, in November, the State Council published an implementation plan to help the elderly cross the digital divide.
According to the plan, China will work to effectively tackle the most urgent and everyday needs of seniors using smart technologies by the end of this year. The country will then spend another year promoting the use of such technologies in daily services. Finally, a long-term mechanism to allow seniors to enjoy high-quality and convenient digital technologies in everyday life will be established by the end of 2022.
A total of 20 requirements concerning seven aspects of seniors' daily life were put forward in the plan. These covered seniors' needs amid major emergencies, daily travel, medical services, shopping activities, cultural events and sports, public affairs, as well as the elderly-friendly transformation of digitalized products and applications.
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