Ridesharing for Seniors?
When Marcia Avirom moved from New York to the Twin Cities in 2021, transportation was difficult. New York is a hail-a-taxi town; the Twin Cities are not. And though rideshares like Uber or Lyft are commonplace among the tech-savvy generations, they are not a natural fit for older people.
Then Avirom learned about Edwards RideCare and “fell in love.”
“It’s clean, and you don’t have to worry about picking up Covid, and the drivers are knowledgeable and nice,” Avirom says. “You don’t have to worry about getting lost.” Although Avirom still drives, she uses Edwards when she doesn’t know the route, if the roads are bad, or if she needs to be picked up from a doctor’s appointment.
The Bloomington-based Edwards RideCare began at the start of the pandemic, when CEO and co-founder Kevin Spanbauer identified a need in the market for a safe, clean transportation service that helps elderly and immunocompromised clients get “beyond the curb” to their ultimate destination.
“[We] discovered that there’s not a lot of options out there—at least ones that are both safe and provide the level of service that [seniors] need,” Spanbauer explains. Many of Edwards’ clients won’t touch Uber, Lyft, transit, or taxis because of reliability, safety, and trust concerns.
Co-founder Mike Lynds designed the “Edwards Safe Passage System” with a pandemic mindset. It includes a barrier that separates the passenger and driver’s air space, a HEPA filtration system, and sanitation after every ride. The company’s four drivers are Covid-vaccinated and wear masks and gloves when appropriate. They use their personal vehicles to transport passengers.
“In the United States, we don’t take as good care of our elderly as many other countries do,” Spanbauer says. “We can do a much better job. That’s what we’re all about.”
For now, the business is doing well, posting revenues in the first half of this year equal to all of 2022. Spanbauer plans on expanding into other markets once the Twin Cities is well established, he says, probably 2025 at the earliest.
