Through its annual product showcase, Go-Get, ride-hailing giant Uber introduced several new features on Wednesday morning that, among other activations, are designed to make group and family journeys simpler.
Uber users will soon be able to create a family profile to link numerous Uber accounts together, especially for kids between the ages of 13 and 17. Using a family account enables younger users to book their rides and Uber Eats meals while being supervised by an adult.
On May 22, teen accounts for rides will be accessible in a few U.S. and Canadian cities, and then teen accounts for Uber Eats. By doing this, these riders can also place food orders using their parents' or caregivers' accounts.
Uber is deploying additional built-in privacy safety features, including a live trip-tracking app for parents and a feature for parents to contact the driver directly during a trip, in response to safety and security concerns for teens ordering rides in-app. Uber says only "experienced and highly-rated drivers will be eligible to complete trips with teens" while deploying these built-in privacy safety features.
In addition, families will soon be able to order an Uber Car Seat in New York City and Los Angeles. As a result, they can request and arrange a ride using a Nuna Rava car seat, which is appropriate for infants weighing 5 to 65 pounds.
Uber also revealed three other group travel capabilities, such as Group shopping Orders, which allow customers to place an Uber Eats shopping order with other users, such as housemates, families, or friends. In most stores, Uber will automatically divide the check without the need for a third-party app like Venmo or Splitwise by texting participants a link to add things to a shared cart.
In some areas, Uber users can also invite people to add their addresses to a group trip while automatically updating the pick-up locations for each participant. This will again eliminate the need to divide costs outside of the app by automatically dividing the fare for each participant based on journey time.
Uber Boat was among the more intriguing and possibly surprising rollouts revealed on Wednesday. Beginning this summer, this service will make it easier to book a boat in Greece for a tour of islands around Mykonos for up to eight people.
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