Would you trust your kids to travel in a rideshare alone?
Hailing an Uber or Lyft when you are in a hurry or want to avoid an impending rainstorm has become a habit for many urbanites. The ease of hailing a car with the push of a button, has changed the transportation industry and city life will never be quite the same. Uber and Lyft aim to make your life easy. Need a car that can fit 6 of your friends, done. Hailing a ride that will impress your client, UberBlack is on it. It seems as though between these two companies, most any transportation option is at your fingertips, except for one… a child friendly service.
Uber and Lyft both have explicit rules about not allowing children under the age of 18 in their vehicles without a guardian present. While there are plenty of legitimate reasons for not allowing children to travel unsupervised in a rideshare, some parents are finding that a child friendly rideshare service would solve a lot of their daily commuting woes, especially when you are a parent of multiple children who are all engaged in various activities.
One company, saw this market void, and developed a special rideshare service specifically designed for children. The company’s name was Shuddle, and they took extra precautions when hiring drivers to make sure they were child friendly and extremely safe. Unfortunately for Shuddle, the company was never able to get off the ground. However, since their demise, multiple other companies trying to become the token rideshare service for kids have taken their spot.
The verdict is still out for many families on whether or not they would truly feel comfortable letting their child get in a car with a stranger, but for those of you who feel the benefits outweigh the risks, take a look at the list of companies below who strive to make sure there is a safe and convenient ride available for children.
HopSkipDrive
HopSkipDriveAvailable in California (Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Orange County, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento),Colorado (Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs) andNorthern Virginia/DC Metro Region.
Created by three Moms, who value safety above all else, HopSkipDrive provides an easy, child-friendly service. From unique driver requirements that include 5+ years childcare experience to a comprehensive 15 point driver certification process, and even live tracking of your child’s ride, HopSkipDrive tries its best to make sure you feel comfortable allowing your child to ride with their drivers. A neat feature that HopSkipDrive promotes is the use of passwords between the kids and drivers to help insure that the kids are never getting into the wrong car. You can also create weekday rides for your kids right from the app or the website.
Zum
ZumAvailable in the San Francisco Bay Area, Orange County, San Diego, Washington DC, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, and Phoenix.
Zum is not only a rideshare service for kids, it is also a babysitting service as well. If you would like, you can add on extra features such as babysitting or having the driver stay with your child at their activity for an extra cost. As with other child Rideshare services, Zum has stringent background and safety checks, claiming that only 1 out of 5 driver applicants pass their process. With Zum, you can view your driver and their profile up to 12 hours before the ride, adding that extra safety precaution for parents. With Zum, you can book daily rides to school and back, or one-time rides to get your child to a playdate.
Kid’s Kruiser
Kid’s KruiserAvailable in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
*UPDATE* Kid's Kruiser is no longer active.
Kid’s Kruiser is small kid oriented rideshare company, that specializes in transporting your children to and from activities. Like other rideshare services for kids, Kid’s Kruiser upholds safety to a very high degree to insure their drivers are top notch. Kid's Kruiser has a service that will text you when your child has been picked up and dropped off, easing the mind of parents.
Zem Car
Zem CarAvailable in Boston, MA.
ZemCar is not only a rideshare service for kids but it also specializes in giving rides to senior citizens. All drivers are taken through intense security and background checks and must meet for and in person interview and provide multiple references. ZemCars are heavily monitored with live video feeds. This allows parents to watch their child’s ride in real time or request that the ZemCar monitoring team watch the child. In addition, the monitoring team tracks the entire ride to make sure the driver stays on route. If he/she doesn’t, the team calls the driver to make sure everything is OK. Finally, parents can build their own team of drivers and place them in their “circle of trust”, this ensures that any time a senior family member or child needs to be picked up, a driver that the family knows and likes will be sent.
Sheprd
SheprdAvailable in Newton, MA.
*UPDATE* Sheprd is no longer active.
Sheprd organizes popular ride routes from various activity facilites (YMCA, dance studios, camps, etc) within the town of Newton. Each ride costs a flat rate of $17. School aged children from K-12 grade are eligible to ride with Sheprd. Sheprd will try to match up routes for multiple children so your child will most likely share their ride with other kids heading to the same activities. All Sheprd vehicles areLand Rover SUVs complete with in-car WiFi, TV, and phone chargers. Sheprd is currently only availabe in Newton, MA. Use Code "RIDEGURUSHEPRD" to get your first ride free!
Kid Car
Kid CarAvailable in New York, NY.
Since 2006, Kid Car has provided safe and convenient transport to children and parents in New York City by providing specially trained and vetted drivers with age and weight-appropriate, properly installed car seats. Younger children can ride with parents and caregivers around town and/or to the airport while older children can ride unaccompanied to school and after-school activities. Kid Car provides 3 car types: Sedans which fit up to 4 passengers with two forward-facing car seats or 3 passengers with 1 rear-facing car seat; Minivans which fit up to 5 passengers with three car seats; and SUV's which fit up to 6 passengers with four car seats. Kid Car accepts both on-demand and advance reservations.
Kid’s Lyft
Available in Charles County, MD, Prince Georges County, MD, Montgomery County, MD, Howard County, MD, Washington, DC, and Northern Virginia.
*UPDATE* Kid's Lyft is no longer active.
Kid’s Lyft is a small company started by a mother who saw an opportunity. Kid’s Lyft is exactly what it sounds like, a Lyft service specifically designed for kids. Drivers must go through comprehensive background and safety tests as well as always wear their uniform and outfit their car with the Kid’s Lyft symbol. Kid’s Lyft does allow parents to request personal drivers, if you become comfortable with one person.
Kango
KangoAvailable in San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles.
Kango is an app-based rideshare service in the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles that enables you to schedule rides and childcare for kids, from preschool to high school. All Kango drivers and sitters are pre-screened with in-person interviews, background checks, fingerprinting, and must have prior experience caring for children. Kids do not need a mobile phone to use Kango as everything is set up in advance. Not only does Kango offer rides and babysitting services, they also offer a platform that allows you to connect and chat with nearby parents, for free. This way parents can also use the platform to set up carpools and play dates. Kango is available as a monthly subscription ($9.00 a month) with subscribers also paying rideshare ($16 minimum for each trip) and babysitting ($15-$20 an hour) rates for each time they use the service.
Bubbl
BubblAvailable in Dallas.
Bubbl is unique in that their rides are given by throughly vetted off-duty or retired police officers. Bubbl drivers exclusively drive vehicles owned, insured, and maintained by Bubbl, instead of their own cars. At the moment all Bubbl kids rides must be prescheduled either through their app or by phone. Bubbl accepts all kids and young teens from 8-17 years old to ride. Bubbl rides start at $17 per childfor the first two passengers, andrides are charged through your on file credit card.
Kidmoto
KidmotoAvailable in New York, NY.
The Kidmoto app connects parents to a network of professionally-trained drivers that provide secured child car seats for safe airport car transportation. Kidmoto can provide between 1 to 4 fully harnessed and installed child car seats. Kidmoto has 3 vehicle types available, sedan, minivan, and SUV. Prices are currently all flat rates based on distance. Kidmoto is available in the NYC area.
VanGo
VanGoAvailable in Connecticut
VanGo is a ride service that caters to teens. Over 85% of their drivers are Moms and everyone is fully vetted with at least 3 years of childcare under their belts. Most people use this app for transporting their children to and from sporting events or after school activities. VanGo is designed like a normal rideshare app but will also alert the parents with text messages, push notifications, and ride tracking so you can feel comfortable leaving your teen in another caregivers hands. VanGo is available on both apple and android devices.
Carpool Services
Carpool Kids
Carpool KidsNo set location, available for use anywhere.
Carpool kids is an app that allows parents to organize carpools for their children's activities. The app allows you to create carpooling groups with families you are already familiar with, it is not a rideshare app where you hire an outside driver. Scheduled carpools sync up with your iphone's calendar to make it easier to remember your child's schedule. At this moment the app is only available on iOS but you can sign into your account via their website if you wish to use their features but do not own an iPhone.
Kibzy
KibzyNo set location, available for use anywhere.
Kibzy is an app that allows parents to organize carpools for their kids. Kibzy provides a platform thatconnects parents who are already friends as well as facilitates connections to parents you share activities with, but have yet to meet. The Kibzy app offers real time tracking as well asride reminders, pick up notifications, and drop off confirmation. There is no charge to use Kibzy and set up rides, however, Kibzy will give points everytime you offer to drive someones child, this method of "carma" allows you to give back to the parents who are helping you or your community.
Pogo Rides
Pogo RidesNo set location, available for use anywhere.
Pogo is an app that allows parents to organize rides for their kids through shared connections. The Pogo app is not a ridesharing app for your kids but a way to find other parents who are driving the same routes as you, allowing you to connect and create carpools for your children. Once you have created shared rides for your children you can track your child's ride in real time to ensure that they arrived at their destination safely. Pogo helps to connect you to other parents in your community that you may either know directly or through a mutual friend, so you are never placing your child with a complete stranger.
GoKid
GoKidNo set location, available for use anywhere.
*UPDATE* GoKid is no longer active.
GoKid is an app that allows parents to easily communicate and facilitate carpools for their children's activities. The app is more of a replacement for long email chains than a ridesharing app as you create carpooling groups with families you are already familiar with. The app does include GPS-based tracking of cars, live mapping functionality, and in-app texting which all make life a little simpler when trying to coordinate carpools. It also tracks and sends reminders to the parents as to whose turn it is to do the driving.
Figure8
Figure8No set location, available for use anywhere.
*UPDATE* GoKid is no longer active.
Figure8 is an app that allows parents to arrange carpools with other parents (from your list of contacts), keep track of your littles ones’ activities, get reminders on their schedule, and stay in touch with other parents. The app is another replacement app for long email and text chains when planning carpools with other parents. The app does include GPS-based tracking of cars so you can see where your children are at all times. It also optimizes routes for your group so you know which children should be picked up first/last to save drive time. There is no monetary exchange with Figure8, instead parents take turns driving the carpool.
KydRides
KydRidesNo set location, available for use anywhere.
Developed by a father who was running into scheduling conflicts with his two children, KydRides is a free app that allows you to build a network of people that you know and trust in order to help you get your kids transported to and from their activities and appointments. It's beneficial for both the parent and driver because the parents get help with their scheduling conflicts and the drivers can earn a passive income through 'Thank You Dollars.' You can download KydRides and start connecting with your network via Facebook in a few easy steps. Learn more at kydrides.com/app
If you are looking to travel with your kids, please check out ourUber and Lyft help articleon traveling with children and our list oftop travel friendly car seats.
