Seniors don’t need a smart phone or app when looking for driving alternatives: Roadshow
Readers suggest more alternatives for seniors -- and others -- who don't want to drive.
Q: Regarding your request for non-mass transit alternatives, my mother drives, but for evening events at friends’ houses, or a lift to the airport, she uses GoGoGrandparent.
She does not use a smart phone so can’t call Uber or Lyft. She has a GoGoGrandparent account, calls them by landline, and they call Uber/Lyft on her behalf.
Janice Weaver
A: And another….
Q: I recommend GoGoGrandparent, designed to help seniors who don’t use a smart phone summon an Uber or Lyft. The drivers provide the extra care that seniors need, getting into and out of the vehicle, and up to the door of their building. The senior calls GoGoGrandparent, employees call for the car and direct the driver to the pickup or drop-off point.
Sue Kayton, Menlo Park
A: I love the moniker “Go Go Grandparent.” It seems like another good way to keep seniors as independent as possible.
Q: A Clipper card provides one “ticket” to public transit throughout the Bay Area at a discounted rate. The senior Clipper card is one of the best bargains in the area, especially once one has learned the many travel options it makes available.
Fremont provides training in using it and a senior Clipper card can be issued when a person takes the class.
A perk of completing the class is the local field trips available only to those who have taken the class. Travel for these trips, about one a month, is via transportation that uses the Clipper card. The best one I took was a tour of Oracle Park.
Linda Sepeda, Oakland
A: Still more…
Q: The Stanford Marguerite shuttle service is free, one doesn’t need to be a Stanford affiliate of any kind, and it has multiple routes. Now that Stanford has a presence in Redwood City, it even goes there, as well as to the Fremont and Union City BART stations! https://transportation.stanford.edu/marguerite
Carol Zink, Redwood City
A: Good to know.
Q: I wish that, in discussions about getting people out of cars, regardless of age or infirmity, there were a focus on making it EASIER to leave the car behind, instead of making driving harder. Most transit systems seem designed by youngish, able-bodied persons who focus on commuter needs, not day-to-day needs of family care, socializing, errands, etc.
The places we need to go, things we need to do, and time we have to do them in makes public transit impossible. Infirmity also makes it impossible.
I grew up in Oakland and public transit was great as a kid and young adult, but has been a non-starter for many years now.
Claire Lomax, Oakland
A: That’s all for today, folks.
Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.com.