Uber launches teen accounts in Houston, offering safe and convenient rides for teens

Uber allowing parents to create accounts for children, ages 13 to 17

The app will notify parents when their child requests a ride and send notifications when they reach their destination.

HOUSTON - On Monday, May 22, Uber launched a new feature in the Houston area designed to help families on the go. Parents and guardians can now invite their teens (ages 13-17) to create a specialized Uber account that will allow teens to request their own rides with parental supervision and key safety features built into the experience.

Uber for teens: Minors can ride Uber with an account linked to their parent, guardian

How parents can set up a teen account:

Through their Family Profile in the Uber app, a parent or guardian can invite their teen to create an account. The teen will receive a link to download the app, create their new teen account, and complete the mandatory safety onboarding process. After that, teens can start requesting trips on their own.

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How safety is embedded into the family experience:

Live trip tracking: To help keep parents in the know, they will receive real-time updates whenever their teen requests a ride, including the driver’s name and vehicle information, and they can follow the trip’s progress live in their Uber app. With teen accounts, parents know exactly where their teen is going and who is behind the wheel.
PIN Verification: Before a teen gets in the car, they’ll be prompted to give their driver a unique PIN. Drivers will not be able to start the trip until they enter the correct code into their app, providing an extra layer of protection to ensure teens get into the right car with the right driver.
RideCheck: We use sensors and GPS data to detect if the ride goes off course, stops unexpectedly, or ends early. If something like this happens, the Uber app will message the teen and the driver to make sure they’re OK. RideCheck will be adjusted to be more sensitive during teens trips.
Audio Recording available: Uber’s Audio Recording feature allows users to record audio of their trip directly through the app and saves files on the device, automatically encrypting them so that no one - not the driver, not the rider or parents, and not Uber - can listen back to the recording.
Expanded communication: parents and guardians will be able to contact their teen’s driver at any time during a trip, as well as Uber’s safety line.
Only highly rated, experienced drivers: Only drivers who have passed local screening and background check requirements and are highly-rated and experienced will be able to receive trip requests from teen account holders. Drivers can choose to opt-out of receiving teen trips at any time.

All teen trips will have safety features automatically enabled, including PIN verification, live trip tracking, unexpected event alerts, and access to Uber’s Safety Line. These features cannot be turned off by the teen, the driver, or the parent, so teens will always have access to them with the touch of a button.

"Teen accounts are built with transparency in mind so that there are no surprises for parents, teens, or drivers," said Mariana Esteves, Product Manager at Uber. "We’re thrilled to offer this innovative feature to families in more cities across the US, with key safety features built into the heart of the experience. Whether their teen is getting a ride to an internship or heading home after soccer practice, parents will receive real-time notifications and can follow along with live trip tracking every step of the way. We’re committed to helping keep teens safe and getting families moving."

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Uber spent more than a year developing teen accounts and consulted with safety experts, like Safe Kids Worldwide, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children from preventable injuries.

"Safe Kids is proud to partner with Uber for the launch of this new feature for families," said Safe Kids Worldwide President Torine Creppy. "As part of our work, we were able to provide advice and expertise to Uber to help ensure teens have a safe experience from pickup to drop off. By providing parents with safe alternatives to help their teens get around, we hope this will help create more equitable solutions for families facing barriers to transportation."

Uber began piloting teen accounts in late 2022 in Canada and in early 2023 in several cities across the US. We’ve received overwhelmingly positive feedback from both families and drivers in the pilot cities. Parents and guardians have said the feature gives them added flexibility and peace of mind, while teens say it makes them feel more independent as they get to and from after-school activities, and more.

Uber to allow teens to ride by themselves

The ride share company announced that they will allow teens to ride in vehicles by themselves while using the app.

Beginning Monday, riders in the Houston area will receive an email informing them about this new offering, and next week teens will be able to start ordering food delivery through a specialized Uber Eats teen account. You can learn more about how Uber teen accounts work and get answers to common questions on the teen accounts information page.

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Here is a GIF of what a parent or guardian sees when their teen requests and starts a ride. Here is a GIF showing how parents and guardians can invite their teen to join their Family profile. Here is a GIF showing how teens can create their account, and here is an image that shows what teens see when they open the app.

Uber Houston Consumer