B.C. teens can soon open Uber accounts

In the coming days, B.C. parents will have the option of allowing their 13- to 17-year-olds to have their own Uber accounts.

The ride-hailing company announced Wednesday it is going to begin letting Canadian teens make passenger accounts on its platform.

Michael van Hemmen, the general manager of Uber Canada Mobility, tells CityNews, for parents who may be concerned about safety, there are a number of additional security features that go beyond what the company already has in place.

“We’ve built a system with safety at the heart of it, that allows us to give parents that flexibility to invite their teens to use Uber accounts,” he explained.

“We’re applying both processes and technology to have a really high level of safety for people’s most precious treasure — their children.” 

Drivers entrusted with the responsibility of commuting kids need to meet a number of safety requirements, van Hemmen says.

“Only the highest-rated drivers who’ve completed a large number of trips and have received no complaints against them are eligible. All of those drivers will have completed required criminal record checks that the province requires,” he said.

He explains other measures include a PIN confirmation and real-time trip tracking.

“So parents are able to follow along and actually message the driver while the teen is on the trip. And then, in addition to that, there’s audio recording that’s mandatory that takes place [so] there’s a recording of the trip and if there’s any incident that may occur,” he said.

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He says for families like his who only have a single car or who have no car, the change can make a big difference.

“There’s many times when my oldest son needs to go to soccer where I’ve actually taken an Uber by myself to go up to the field to pick him up because my wife needs to pick up one of our other two kids at an event. So this is a product that really puts families at the heart of it,” he said.

“That means I won’t have to go in an Uber with just me in the Uber to go pick up my child and saves me the cost of one unnecessary trip.”

However, there are some stipulations that go along with creating the accounts, like added parental supervision.

“Our Uber teen accounts … will allow parents to invite their teen to link their account to the parents’ accounts, so that you can all use one family payment profile and that the parent will have added visibility and control over how their teen is able to get around the city,” van Hemmen said.

The option was piloted in Calgary last fall. It is expected to be available in B.C. in the coming days, but no firm date has been announced. A larger rollout in other parts of the country is slated for this summer.