itstargetnews
Lyft introducing a feature that allows teenagers to use the rideshare app and solving the barriers that prevent Gen Alpha from going out into the real world.
The Lyft Teen feature launched Monday and allows teens ages 13 to 17 to request rides, while allowing parents to control their teen’s ability to identify a driver through their own app. Rides will require PIN verification, audio recording if given microphone access, Smart Trip Check-In for unusual route changes, as well as a live ride-tracking feature for parents. Teen profiles are available to Lyft users with verified accounts.
Lyft Teen is available in more than 200 major markets, including New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. The feature will expand throughout the year, according to the company.
The move is a change from Lyft’s previous policy, which required minors to have adult supervision when using the rideshare service.
Lyft Teen is intended to address the rising cost of cars and insurance for young drivers in addition to the workload of parents picking up and dropping off kids, according to CEO David Risher. But part also comes from the reputation that Gen Alpha (the generation born from 2010 to now) is not as independent as other generations of teenagers.
“Teenagers—like every teenager—want freedom. They want to be able to go out and do their own thing,” Risher said. luck. “And parents want something that’s reliable and safe and affordable, and that’s what we’re trying to design.”
Despite their desire for more freedom, fewer teenagers are getting driver’s licenses. From 1983 to 2022, the share of 18-year-olds with US driver’s licenses dropped from 80% to 60%, according to DATA from the Federal Highway Administration of the Department of Transportation. The number of 16-year-olds with licenses dropped by more than a quarter. Even Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi admitted last year that his son, who is over 18, no driver’s license.
“Uber let him go,” Khosrowshahi said in a episode of Decoder podcast.
Meanwhile, teenagers have fewer options for public transportation because of the growing mobility gap, which makes it harder for young people to leave home to go to work or meet friends, Risher suggested. Lyft is targeting a 2024 Survey on HopSkipDrivewhich found that 91% of school leaders reported a transportation system limited by bus driver shortages, with 60% saying they had to cut or reduce bus routes.
Uber launched a similar feature on teen accounts in 2023, which is now available in 50 countries worldwide, according to the company.
And last year, rideshare rivals introduced features for older users in their respective apps. completion get the taxi app Freenow In July 2025, Lyft expanded its service to Europe and Canada.
At the same time, Waymo is growing in popularity among young people, who have launched teen accounts in some places in the summer. The robotaxi chauffeurs teenagers around Phoenix and Los Angeles without the worry of a driver being distracted or acting inappropriately.
Building independence in Gen Alpha
Companies want Starbucks equally tested serving the young generation who are hungry in the “third places” out of school, work, or home, dependent teenagers and young adults who need to get out of the house amid ongoing epidemic of loneliness. Risher said the introduction of Lyft Teen will help solve the problem of teenagers endlessly scrolling on their phones in their rooms.
“The problems in 2026 are social isolation and too much screen time,” he said. “Frankly, parents who feel too stressed can be their best parents. And this, we hope, is a kind of corrective push the other way.”
Risher recalls his own upbringing, when he worked multiple jobs in high school and college, first as a newspaper delivery boy, where he woke up at 5:30 a.m. to drop off copies of Washington Postthen waiters and food service workers. His first car was used Honda Agree.
“There’s something really important about that, this sense of self-determination,” he explained. “I can tell you, if my mom had a choice, instead of buying her ex-boyfriend’s Honda Accord—and insuring it and everything else—if she just said, ‘You know what, here’s Lyft,’ that would be good for her, and frankly, good for me.
Some Reddit users on the Lyft drivers subreddit aren’t too enthusiastic about the idea of letting teenagers into their cars, with some claiming they have opted out of the feature. Risher said this group of Lyft drivers is “pretty small.”
He attributed the reluctance in part to past complications with driving teenagers, who were previously not allowed to ride because of company policy. Because of this, drivers sometimes cancel orders when they see a teenager waiting in their car, making them feel like they are wasting their time.
Risher noted that these drivers may be waiting to see how the feature works before making the choice. Some may not want the responsibility of driving a teenager, for the same reason they don’t want to have drunken passengers on a Saturday night shift.
“They are independent contractors, and they are completely free to make their own decisions about how they want to participate in this platform,” he said.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
