UK Edition
Uber targets elderly passengers in rural Japan
Yaeko Tanaka – along with an estimated 40 million other people around the world – doesn’t hesitate to use the ride sharing company Uber when she needs to get around.
Yet Ms Tanaka clearly defies customer stereotypes. She is not a smartphone-owning young professional living in a city: she is a 90-year-old pensioner based in a remote corner of rural Japan.
“I used to take the bus to go to hospital,” Ms Tanaka, who lives in far-flung Tangocho, a tiny coastal town overlooking the East Sea/Sea of Japan around three hours by bus from Kyoto, told the Telegraph.
“But it was hard for me to walk to the bus stop due to my weak legs. However, since I started using this service, I can go directly from my doorstep to the hospital entrance with ease. I just call up a nearby friend who can request a ride with Uber, which is really easy to use.”
Ms Tanaka is representative of an increasingly important demographic for Uber Technologies Inc, the fast-growing San Francisco-based start-up, which is pioneering an unusual expansion approach in Japan.
For instead of focusing on Japan’s major cities – the most common strategy in many other countries - Uber is instead targeting elderly Japanese living in the nation’s most remote rural locations.
Key to this approach is the fact that Japan is home to one of the world’s fastest ageing populations, with countless areas populated by shrinking ageing communities which are off the public transport grid.
At the same time, Uber’s expansion in cities such as Tokyo has been limited by strict regulations which limit ride-sharing services to locations too small to support public transport.
Only licensed black car or taxi drivers are permitted to ferry passengers, resulting in operations in Tokyo that are surprisingly small compared to cities such as London – despite the Japanese capital being home to the world’s largest taxi cab market.
Not a company to be deterred, earlier this year, Uber quietly launched a pioneering ride-sharing scheme in two small rural areas in Japan – Tangocho in the Kyotango region and Nakatonbetsu, a town on the northernmost island Hokkaido.
As a result, these towns – two small dots on the map – are now the only places in Japan where Uber’s app can be used to hail a ride by a part-time driver.
The new scheme was created in collaboration with local government officials and enables elderly riders who do not own a smartphone to simply phone Uber to summon a ride when they need to get around.
Masami Takahashi, the president of Uber Japan, told the Telegraph: “Many areas of rural Japan are underserved by public transport networks.
This can be especially problematic for senior citizens, something that the government itself has recognised.
“Our technology has been welcomed by authorities in Kyotango and Nakatonbetsu as a way to help seniors get from A to B safely and reliably, as well as creating a sustainable transportation option.
With our technology, we can help move seniors and be part of the solution to one of the major challenges facing the country.”
With “consistent” demand for rides in the first two pilot schemes, Uber is hoping to replicate these services in a network spanning rural Japan and is currently in discussions with dozens of local government authorities.
“This is fairly unique for Uber,” Mr Takahashi admitted. “But at heart, we are in the business of moving people around - wherever they are. The response so far has been very encouraging.”
Ms Tanaka is one of countless pensioners likely to be thankful for Uber’s rural expansion in Tangocho, a town of 5,914 residents, where the average age of Uber passengers is believed to be well over 70.
Setsuko Sakato, 62, who is working as a driver, described his hopes that the scheme would “revitalise” the town, which once thrived by supplying fabric to Kyoto’s kimono makers but has suffering from a rapidly declining population in recent years – a problem replicated across rural Japan.
“I feel happy if the rider shows appreciation of our service,” he told the Telegraph. “I’m hoping to have more riders, which will give me more energy and purpose to the project. And I’d like to see more smiles from riders. That is what motivates me to drive every day.”