learn how you can use apps to improve senior transportation

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Letter from the author

Big Deal About Smartphones

Scheduled Transportation

Reminders and Notifications

SPEDSTA – Mobile Apps and Senior Transportation

Dispatch and Scheduling

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The telephone took 7 decades to go from 1% market penetration to 75%.Many middle aged

Americans recall how reluctantly their parents transitioned from letter writing to using the phone in the

70s.That same change is happening now with today’s older generation transitioning from the telephone

to the mobile phone and internet. Unlike the telephone though, the internet leaped from 1% market

penetration to 75% in only 7 years..10X faster. Although the older generation may show some

hesitation at using the latest Web App, don’t be surprised if they do it faster than you expect.

As the digital divide between the

elderly and the digital youth are

narrowed, an interesting “hand-me up”

behavior is happening where the

younger children are teaching their

elderly parents how to use mobile and

internet technology. It could be said

today that the elderly are at their most

disadvantaged both in technology and

when loss of license occurs. Loss of

license usually results in loss of

independence, social isolation and

resulting health declines which could

be solved through the very capabilities

of technology.

This eBook will describe some ways that technology is perfectly suited to solve the problems of the

elderly and scheduled transportation. We will dive into the specific capabilities of Mobile phone App

technology and where the opportunities are for Senior Organizations, Senior Homes and other Senior

Care centers to more efficiently run their senior transportation program while better connecting

volunteer drivers and other paid services with the elderly.


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What is the Big Deal About

Smartphones Anyway?

Most people think of a mobile phone just as a smaller version

of their laptop or tablet. And that is the way many people think of

accessing the internet on their phone…just a compressed or

smaller view of what they see on their other devices. But the true

power of the mobile phone and Apps is just beginning to be

realized and can be thought of in four unique buckets which can be

leveraged to truly help people do things better and with more

efficiency:

1. Your second brain: by always having the ability to connect to

the cloud we are essentially growing a second brain. This

second brain allows us to access unlimited information and give

us suggestions we could not think of before.

2. Sensors: we interact with the world through our five senses.

The mobile phone is now adding dozens of new sensors to our

capabilities through GPS, Photos, videos, accelerometers and

more. Our perceptions can now extend to describing the world

in whole new ways.

3. Social: through mobile phone Apps we can instantly connect

with anyone to help us with our problems.

4. Notifications in Real time: the phone allows us to interrupt us to

get the latest information in real time. No longer do we have to

make effort to look for things, our phone can do it for us.

So lets dive into each of these capabilities and see how it helps

senior transportation.

The average person

has more access to

information in their

pocket than the

President of the USA

did a mere 15 years

ago!


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Scheduled Transportation and

Drivers

Unlike most on-demand transportation services that exist

and are built on mobile phone app technology, it is equally

important to think about that population of elderly riders that are

in need of scheduled transportation. The elderly’s most frequent

needs are doctors appointments, grocery trips and other trips

which are in need of advanced scheduling. The volunteer and

paid drivers that can accommodate these types of rides demand

that these scheduled rides seamless integrate into their own

personal and daily schedule.

Mobile App technology is perfectly suited for suit this

demand from drivers. In particular the extended sensors of the

mobile phone such as GPS and mapping technology give that

capability for the drivers to know a number of things which make

their experience much better:

• Exact understanding of trip length, trip time and any

payments or reimbursements even before the ride begins

• Understanding how far from their current location is to the

pickup of the passenger

• Any traffic, route or other conditions which may affect the

ride.

• Allowing the passenger to understand the estimated time of

arrival and location of the driver. No more waiting time or

phone calls to make sure that everyone is meeting at the

right time.

All these small improvements add up to an exceptional

experience for the driver, motivating them to do more.

5 SPEDSTA – Mobile Apps and Senior Transportation

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Memory

In the overloaded and hyper connected world that we all live in,

the ability to remember appointments, schedules and daily living

information is a challenge. For the elderly who are already

challenged with normal aging related memory loss, this problem

can be very acute. With consistent family and caregiving support

this impact can be somewhat lessened but seniors who do not

have that in-person contact could do with an automated way to

help their everyday living.

What would do with a second brain that will never lose its memory, be able to continually store

more and be always available anytime? This is what mobile devices connected to cloud based memory

can do for everyone and especially be impactful on the lives of seniors. Instead of writing on paper,

looking at calendars or relying on memory to be the guide to scheduled transportation appointments

this burden can now be shifted to a free and almost limitless digital resource.

By using always connected devices, information can freely be accessed and reminders setup for

any daily or weekly scheduled events. Now this is not only useful for the Senior, but having this freely

available to family members, caregivers and service providers gives an extra layer of support the

Senior would not normally get.

Reminders and Notifications


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1-800-complaints

In a recent test by a major civic government, they

attempted to look at the differences between setting up

a compliant telephone line and using App technology

to report potholes in their city. The survey results were

clear as there was a 30% more participation from

people using Apps than using a telephone line. The

reason that most people cited was that by calling in

they felt they were “complaining”…when they did it

through the App they felt they were “helping”.

Dispatch and Scheduling

The telephone has been the mainstay of taxi

dispatch systems for the last 80+ years and continue to

serve that role today. During this time, this has been the

only communication device that many Seniors have

known but like any technology it has its drawbacks which

people get use to.

We have all had the experience of trying to reach

someone by phone and getting voicemail or some

automated system that takes you on an endless button

pushing path. The unique advantage of the phone is that

it can connect you with people that are not in your

immediate area, but the drawback is that the other

person must be the near the phone to get it.

Mobile phones take us one step forward by

allowing communication to happen anywhere and

anytime but it still takes direct synchronous contact for a

phone call. By using Apps and software, the

transportation world is going through a new

transformation where ride scheduling information can be

directly passed to the driver in a way for the driver to

respond on his own time. This also applies to dispatch

people and passengers where they don’t need to have

direct voice contact with drivers to confirm rides.

Not only does this make things more efficient, data

can be generated and fed back to Ride Manager,

Passenger and Driver to influence behavior and make

the whole program better.


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Try Spedsta’s

Ride Management Tools and Passenger/Driver App

Free for 30 Days.

From managing your drivers to increasing your

transportation budget, Spedsta brings your entire

transportation program together. The result? Better

experience for the driver and senior passenger and a

lower cost way to manage your transportation

program.

Start Your Free Trial Now

www.spedsta.com/signup

[email protected]

888 756 3617


http://www.spedsta.com/signup

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