Ride-hailing platform Uber announced to launch teen accounts in Taiwan on Wednesday, which allow teenagers to request rides under the supervision of their parents, in order to provide a safe and flexible commuting option for both parents and children.
Teenagers aged 13 to 17 can have their own accounts and request rides after being invited by a parent or guardian to join the Family Profile in the Uber application, according to a news statement issued by Uber Taiwan.
Photo courtesy of Uber
Rides designated for teenagers -- which can also be arranged by their parents -- come with safety features such as PIN verification, audio recording, and live trip tracking that allows parents to monitor their children's location, Uber said.
Only highly rated and experienced drivers will handle bookings for teenagers, the company added.
Margarita Peker, general manager of Uber Taiwan, said the launch of teen accounts is aimed at offering parents more flexibility while providing teenagers with a new and safe commuting option.
A survey conducted by market research company Ipsos showed that 73 percent of surveyed parents currently drive their children to and from school daily or at least three days a week, while 53 percent have faced challenges arranging transportation for their teenagers due to work or other commitments, according to Uber.
The survey, commissioned by Uber, also revealed that 80 percent of respondents would consider using a teen-specific ride option if it offered features such as real-time trip notifications, location tracking, and driver information.
The new service is available in all cities and counties in Taiwan where Uber operates, including Taipei, New Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung, as noted on the official Uber website.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS