Mobility and Transportation for Older Adults: A Challenge and an Opportunity for Entrepreneurs

Mobility and transportation are among the biggest challenges of aging. Mobility is defined as “the ability to move or be moved freely and easily” and transportation is defined as “the action of transporting someone or something”. Mobility challenges are extremely common for older adults. According to the U.S. census bureau, two-thirds of older Americans say they had difficulty in walking or climbing. With public transport that is either inaccessible or non-existent, mobility and transportation two are closely intertwined.

Not being able to move freely and easily negatively impacts one’s ability to perform basic activities of daily living independently, in and outside the home. This includes walking to and from the bus stop and getting on and off a bus. In many places in the US and all over the world, losing your ability to drive yourself means that you lose a big part of your independence, and require assistance to fulfill your basic human needs – like getting food and healthcare. Social connections, which are extremely important to people of all ages, can be severed simply because people aren’t able to independently get to where they used to volunteer or meet with friends. 

In recent years, tech-enabled transportation solutions like ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft have become ubiquitous, but are they accessible to older adults? Not necessarily. To use ride-hailing services, you need to own a smartphone, know how to download apps, and be able to trust those ride-hailing apps with your credit card information. And while smartphone ownership and use among older adults is steadily increasing year over year, most older adults are not confident that what they do online remains private – which is a major barrier for adoption of such apps.

Services like GoGoGrandparent enable people to order an Uber or Lyft using a simple phone call, which is a great step forward, but can older adults with mobility impairments use them safely? Can they get out of the house and into the car unassisted? Will they be able to cross a busy intersection if their driver is waiting for them at the north-east corner instead of at the south-west corner?

While popular ride-hailing services that are mostly app-based and provide curb-to-curb transportation might not be the best solution for many older adults, there are ride-hailing services that are designed to meet everyone’s needs. Onward rides is one of them – their drivers are trained to provide assisted transportation to older adults, which includes helping riders out the door and into the car, and in some cases, waiting along with them as they run their errands or visit the doctor, and then taking them back home (to their door) safely. Silver Ride is another such service, and both of these services also provide medical transportation, and transportation is also one of the services Papa Pals are able to provide. 

The future, however, is autonomous vehicles. Tesla, which is one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world, already has cars with a built-in driver assistance system they call “AutoPilot” and will one day provide full autonomous driving capabilities. Other big manufacturers, as well as less-familiar companies like May Mobility – are also working on autonomous transportation solutions. It has also been reported that senior living communities have become a testing ground for autonomous cars, which makes a lot of sense when you consider that many residents might no longer be able to drive themselves safely.

When it comes to mobility, mobility aids have gotten a much-needed upgrade in recent years, some of the more innovative mobility aids are commercially available, like this robotic wheelchair. Some, like Seismic’s powered clothing, are still under development and will eventually solve many of the micro-challenges that comprise the larger mobility and transportation challenge.

One Canadian company, Braze mobility, is leading the charge in helping those who need a wheelchair navigate busy urban environments. They have developed a revolutionary set of sensors, which can be used on any wheelchair and provide audio, visual and vibration feedback when obstacles are nearby. In an interview with CABHI, Pooja Viswanathan, the company’s founder and CEO said that “there’s already so much stigma about not being able to drive a wheelchair properly – which isn’t fair to say because it’s actually very hard to do. Our sensors provide an opportunity to raise awareness about the issues wheelchair users face so they can know they’re not alone.”

I believe this last sentence is the “why” behind many of the age-tech companies that have been founded in recent years. They’re not only here to solve real problems for real people, but also, to make sure our elders are not left behind in all of this wonderful tech-driven progress we’re experiencing, and that they know they are not alone.