July 10, 2017 - El Camino Hospital announced that RoadRunners, its transportation service for seniors, is partnering with Lyft, the fastest growing rideshare company in the U.S., to expand its services to meet the growing need for affordable transportation for local seniors and community members who have transportation challenges.
For more than 30 years, RoadRunners has been scheduling and providing a safe, affordable transportation option for seniors to get to their appointments, run errands and remain socially connected. Over the past six months, RoadRunners has been dispatching rides and utilizing Lyft drivers when there were not enough volunteer drivers or cars available to accommodate requests. Seniors request a ride through RoadRunners and if there is no capacity, the caller is informed that a ride through Lyft can be arranged for them. The six month pilot proved to be successful with an 11 percent increase in rides and the elimination of a waiting list. Customer satisfaction with the Lyft service remained high throughout the pilot as well.
RoadRunners entered into an expanded, long-term agreement with Lyft to augment existing services. The partnership with Lyft provides an enhanced reliable, safe, affordable and convenient transportation option to get seniors to and from various appointments and activities. RoadRunners will continue to schedule, address riders’ questions and bill users for their services using traditional methods without requiring the use of a smartphone.
According to an analysis of the federal government’s National Household Travel Survey by AARP’s Public Policy Institute, more than 20 percent of Americans age 65 and older don’t drive. Yet many of these baby boomers also live in areas where transportation service is poor or nonexistent, such as the suburbs creating a major gap between seniors who need transportation services and seniors who have access. As reported by the Pew Charitable Trusts, in 2014 nearly two-thirds of boomers in metropolitan areas lived in the suburbs and most want to continue to age there, according to national surveys.
“The demand for transportation for local seniors continues to grow as our population ages and we are very pleased to expand our convenient, low-cost transportation as a result of this partnership,” said Margaret Wilmer, senior director of integrated care at El Camino Hospital. “We remain committed to providing personalized care and meeting the diverse needs of our community as RoadRunners is now able to virtually guarantee transportation for all its riders. Remaining independent is an important part of leading a quality life for seniors and people with disabilities and we’re proud to provide a service that does just that.”
“We are thrilled to partner with El Camino Hospital to help remove transportation barriers and provide reliable on-demand rides to those who need it,” said Gyre Renwick, head of healthcare partnerships at Lyft. “This opportunity to extend our services to local seniors and community members allows us to align with El Camino Hospital’s goal of providing safe, affordable transportation options and reduce isolation and increase the independence of our seniors.”
Rides are provided within a 10-mile radius of El Camino Hospital’s Mountain View campus. Transportation to doctor and dentist appointments, other health related appointments as well as to local banks, markets, beauty shops and senior centers is provided between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.