GoRide Health, a Ford Motor Co. program that provided transportation for senior citizens is ending its services. The program, which launched in 2017, gave citizens in Detroit and other metropolitan cities, rides to and from medical appointments. Customers could schedule rides and the cost ranged between $45-$60 dollars. Ford spokesman Marty Gunsberg stated that the program is going to move toward a self-driving format, which is being tested in Miami.
He released the following statement regarding the GoRide program.
“We have advised our customers and suppliers that the mobility services delivered by GoRide Health over the past two years will move to the next phase by aligning operations with our autonomous vehicle launch cities,” said Gunsberg. “Ford is committed to improving access to transportation for those with limited mobility. The planned Miami pilot will help Ford better understand the role AVs can play in this important transport sector.”
GoRide was a very successful program that safely transported citizens to:
- Beaumont Health Facilities
- Detroit Medical Center
- Detroit Receiving Hospital
- Children’s Hospital of Michigan
- The Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan
- Sinai-Grace Hospital
- Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital
- DMC Heart Hospital
- Harper University Hospital
- Hutzel Women’s Hospital
Michigan is outpacing the nation with its elder population. Specifically, 11% of the population in Detroit are senior citizens. Also, senior citizens are high-risk drivers after a certain age. Here are some quick facts from AAA.
- More than 75 percent of drivers age 65 or older report using one or more medications, but less than one-third acknowledged awareness of the potential impact of the medications on driving performance.
- Since older drivers are more fragile, their fatality rates are 17 times higher than those of 25- to 64-year-olds.
- In 2014, nearly 5,709 senior drivers were killed and 221,000 were injured in traffic crashes.
Although we’re moving toward an autonomous-based world, we hope these changes are beneficial to senior citizens in Detroit and beyond.
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