Uber launches service in Tasmania, SA and ACT for teenagers to ride on their own under parent’s oversight

The rideshare giant has introduced a service to help ease the load on time-poor parents. How it’s promising to provide a safer trip for teens.

Generic Uber teens image. Uber launches service to keep teens safe and help time-poor parents in Tasmania. Picture: Supplied/Uber

Rideshare giant Uber is bringing in a host of safeguards in the launch of its service to take teenagers from A to B.

Uber for Teens will gradually become available in Australia from Tuesday, with Tasmania one of the first states off the mark alongside South Australia and the ACT.

It allows for parents and guardians to invite their teens, aged 13-17, to create a specialised Uber account under their family profile.

The change will allow teenagers to request their own rides under real-time parental services, Uber said.

Further safety measures of screened and experienced drivers holding valid Working with Vulnerable People Registration, live tracking, PIN verification and ride check are also included.

The service has already been launched across Canada, the United States and Latin America.

Uber ANZ director of mobility operations Emma Foley said they were excited to be expanding their services to offer teenagers more independence and avoid missing out.

“Many of us at Uber are busy parents ourselves so we know all too well how hard it can be to juggle competing priorities,” she said.

“We are pleased to be providing Australian families with a solution that has been tried, tested and trusted by many other families around the world, helping alleviate these common pain points with an alternative transport option built with safety in mind.”

How Uber for teens works:

Parents can follow these 3 simple steps to get their teen’s account set up:

*Tap Account > Family to create a Family profile.

*Tap Invite Family > Teen > Choose contact and select their name from your contacts. (They must be at least 13 years old.)

*Make sure your payment information is up to date before your teen requests their first ride. You can also set a transportation budget for your teen.

Teens can follow the below steps to set up their account:

*Once the above steps are completed by the parent or guardian, the teen will receive an invitation to download the Uber app

*Once the teen finishes the set up process, including their safety onboarding, they can begin using their teen account to request their own rides