Private Drivers

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Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Parent Q&A

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  • Hiring a driver for a grandparent

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    Oct 25, 2023

    Does anyone have any suggestions for how to find and hire a driver for older adults? We want to hire a responsible and experienced driver to drive one, sometimes two older people to a variety of destinations. This would be to medical appointments and grocery shopping but also to enjoyable places, like Tilden Park and the botanical gardens for walks.

    We are thinking of starting around 4 hours a day, something like 10a.m - 2 p.m., initially one or two days a week, but may want to increase the number of days in the future.

    In particular I'm curious if anyone has had success hiring elder-friendly drivers through caregiver listing services like Care.com, craigslist or elsewhere. We have explored ride services like GoGoGrandparent and HopSkipDrive, but we are looking for something more consistent and flexible (not having to set up a ride way in advance).

    Also, it would be very helpful if you have suggestions for how to vet a safe driver, as well as suggested hourly pay.  Thank you. Laura

    Oct 25, 2023

    One possible resource that uses trained volunteers:

    https://www.ashbyvillage.org/

    Nov 1, 2023

    I know that care.com has an option for “elder care” and you can choose “driving” as a requirement. 
     

    I haven’t used care.com for grandparents, but I did find a great babysitter on there who drives my daughter to different activities. 

    Nov 1, 2023

    My grandmother used GoGoGrandparent for 5 years in her 90s with great success (she was actually their #1 customer for a while).  You don't need to set up rides in advance - they just call from their phones and they will send a car just like the rest of us use Uber, except for you don't have to use a smartphone to do it.  The service also lets a family member get updates every time they call a ride, get picked up, and dropped off, so you can track their whereabouts.  The drivers get an alert that they're picking up an elderly person and they were all incredibly lovely to her. It's worth a second look.  

    Nov 3, 2023

  • Transportation help for seniors?

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    Jul 17, 2022

    My elderly parents can no longer safely drive and need transportation assistance. We're able to drive them sometimes, but they'd also like to feel more independent and not have to ask us all the time. They're not super comfortable using Lyft/Uber. We're wondering if there are ride services catering to seniors, or if it's possible to hire someone on a regular part-time basis to drive them for errands and appointments a few times a week. Any advice or referrals would be really appreciated!

    Jul 17, 2022

    Check out LIFE ElderCare's senior transportation program: https://lifeeldercare.org/get-help/transportation/. Good luck! 

    Jul 20, 2022

    My parents, who are not particularly tech savvy, had good luck using Lyft when they gave up driving early this year - if your parents' resistance is to booking with the app, in many places Lyft has a number seniors can call instead. And we found that their town even had an arrangement with Lyft to provide a certain number of free rides to seniors every month within city limits. You may also want to see if their town offers other forms of senior transportation - some do. This website has more info about Lyft (including the number to call to book by phone) and some other options for seniors (and has been a good all-around resource as we moved them into assisted living and navigated other changes): https://www.aplaceformom.com/caregiver-resources/articles/uber-lyft-for…; Ultimately, the right answer for them was an assisted living facility which offered local transportation, but Lyft was a good interim measure.

    Jul 20, 2022

    Look into Ashby Village if they are in Berkeley or Oakland. It is community of members with the goal of keeping seniors in their homes. There are volunteers who drive people, and professionals who guide and manage programs. I looked at the website yesterday and was pleased to see the names of many people I have known in the community and professional life over the years.

    Jul 20, 2022

    We used SilverRide for my mother in law. She felt safe in their vehicles and said their drivers were courteous, friendly and attentive. They will wait at appointments, shopping etc. which  eliminated the stress of scheduling a return trip. Rides can be set up online or by phone; online only 24 hours or more prior, otherwise they need to call.  Not inexpensive but totally worth the security.   https://www.silverride.com/  

    Jul 20, 2022

    Some years back, my parents used East Bay Paratransit operated by the City of Oakland.  You can check if other cities have such services too.

    Also, perhaps Self-Help for the Elderly.

    Jul 25, 2022

  • Seeking Driver for Hire for Mom

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    Sep 24, 2016

    Seeking a trustworthy, reliable, responsible and excellent, safe driver for about 5-7 hours/week (specifics TBD) to help my lovely 82 year old Mom who will need to give up driving in the near future. Ideal person will be patient, experienced, have lots of common sense, know the area (North Berkeley primarily) and have a pristine driving record and insurance. French speaking would be a big plus. Use of her late model car may be an option.  Our initial thinking is that someone would be able to meet her 2-3 times a week to help her run errands and have occasional outings, etc.-- some flexibility as we perfect this would be appreciated. 

    Sep 24, 2016

    I started out looking for part-time help for my folks and found my wonderful caregivers on Care.com. You set the parameters for what you need and look for someone who fits your needs.  There are lots of people out there, so be sure you interview them, run the background & DMV checks (provided through the site), get references and find the right fit (can you tell I work in HR?).  Good luck!

    Sep 28, 2016
RE:
Transport services for kids (Aug 15, 2018)

Contact Americana Limousine Services, they have a car seat transportation services. I used them before going from my place to the airport, they installed the car seat, clean black vehicles and reasonable prices
Their number 415-305-0819
Good luck

Aug 22, 2018

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Hiring a Private Driver for Daily Commute

Sept 2013

My brother was just diagnosed with an unruptured brain aneurysm. He is in the process of seeing specialists and determining next steps, however I am very worried about him doing his daily commute from Sonoma county to the Peninsula (min 90 mins each way). My fear is of course that something could happen while he's driving endangering himself and others. I have the resources to hire him a personal driver, I just have no idea how to do it. It could be using his car or the drivers car. I'd really prefer not to go the Craigslist route and would ideally like to either work with an agency, or have a good personal BPN reference. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Worried sister

I am totally blind and use a personal driver to get me to work every day from Fremont to San Jose. I used a website called taskrabbit.com to find a driver. You can post a job and review bids before you accept them or you can automatically accept the lowest bid. It doesn't always work but I found it works better than craigslist. Feel free to contact me off list if you want to talk about it more or have other questions. Ronit