Tired of driving crazy passengers around as an Uber driver but still want to make money with your car?
Parents, are you tired of paying hefty transportation fees for your kids when you can’t drive them? Looking for cheaper alternative kid transportation services near you?
Enter Uber for kids!
There are actually a bunch of ridesharing services just like Uber but for kids, that’ll pay you to drive kids around.
These days, parents’ lives are busy enough without having to keep up with their children’s demanding extracurricular and social schedules on top of everything else.
Enter carpool and ridesharing services, with simplification in mind.
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As a parent, you can save money and feel safer when you have to let someone else drive your kids around.
And as a driver, you get to make money without dealing with crazy adults. This is especially a great way for stay at home moms to make money in their spare time.
Table of Contents
A gap in the marketplace
The two biggest names in on-demand transportation both serve an exclusively adult market.
We all know a person or two who is making money with Uber. But Uber only allows adults to sign up as account owners and asks that children using the service under an adult account be supervised by a parent or guardian at all times.
Likewise, Lyft requires account users to be at least 18 years of age. In fact, if a driver suspects that a passenger might be underage, they have the right to ask and refuse service, according to the company’s help section. By the way, read our post on Lyft Driver Salary to find out how you can make $1200 a week!
Two for One
Here’s a great way to save money and make money at the same time…
If you drive your kids around anyway, sign up with a few of these kids/teenager friendly transportation services near you, then pick up other kids while driving your own children.
You save money by not having to pay someone else to drive your kids around while at the same time you make money driving other people’s kids around.
Do this for a few hours a week and you can easily cover your monthly car payment with your earnings. At the very least, you can make enough to pay for your gas for your workweek. It’s like getting free gas.
Kid Friendly Transportation Services like Uber
Luckily, there are a number of start-up services cropping up across the country to fill the need left by these service gaps.
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These are great for both parents who need a safe way to get their kids to places – soccer practice, party, school etc – as well as drivers who are tired of dealing with adult passengers and/or don’t feel safe driving stranger adults around, but still want to earn money driving people around.
Here are just a few that might be worth investigating:
1. HopSkipDrive
HopSkipDrive is a well-known child transportation service serving Los Angeles, Orange County, the Bay Area, Denver and San Jose.
Created by mothers with safety in mind, the service prides itself on a strict driver selection process, including a 15-point driver certification and more than 5 years of childcare service experience required. Children and drivers connect by means of a secret password so they know they’re getting into the right cars.
Where to get the app:
- HopSkipDrive for iOS
- HopSkipDrive for Android
2. GoKart
GoKart was launched in 2016 by a mom of three busy schoolchildren. It offers service for kids ages 6-17 in areas of North Carolina.
The service requires that drivers be booked with more than 12 hours’ notice or users are subject to a booking fee. Regular hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Like HopSkipDrive, drivers are required to have more than 5 years of childcare experience and go through a rigorous certification process for the sake of your children’s safety.
3. Care.com
Care.com, a trusted online name in child care, offers afterschool transportation services at an average rate of $12 per hour.
A little different than most of these other transportation sites, after-school transportation is just one of the many services that can be hired on the site. Services are more widely available in areas of the country where some of these other services don’t reach.
Although the site offers the tools to help you screen potential hires for these kinds of jobs, safety and screening, is largely left up to the hiring party.
4. Kids Kab
Kids-Kab has been operating in the west suburbs of Chicago, primarily DuPage and Cook Counties, since 1994, providing rides to children ages 3 and up to school, daycare, babysitters, tutors, extracurricular activities and more.
All drivers undergo comprehensive drug testing, Department of Motor Vehicle verification and criminal background and sex offender checks. For safety reasons, payment is always mailed or made via check, so your kids never have to carry cash on them.
5. Taxi Mom
Taxi Mom is a private shuttle service serving school districts in the Richardson and North Dallas, Texas area since 2004.
With the mission of getting kids door-to-door safely, their drivers don’t leave until your child is dropped off, safely inside their destination and the door is shut.
Drivers undergo background checks, and children are shuttled in groups, typically to and from school for a daily fee that can be billed to users’ personal accounts.
6. Kool Kids Transportation
Kool Kids Transportation offers peace of mind child transportation to customers in Houston, Texas.
The company is family owned and operated, and assures your child’s safety through a careful vetting process for drivers and daily vehicle checks.
Kool Kids boasts affordable rates and flexibility for its clients.
7. LPShuttleforKids
Life Prep Shuttle 4 Kidz operates in the Austin, Texas area, providing safe, reliable door-to-door transportation for school-aged children and teens.
Founded by a mother of three busy children, the service grew out of a personal and community need to get clients to and from after-school activities and extracurriculars.
It runs from 6:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, August through June. Franchise opportunities are also available.
8. Kiddie Commute
Kiddie Commute offers morning and evening transport, weekend transport, and transport to/from leagues and camps for clients in the San Diego, California area. Safety, the main concern, includes LIVE SCAN background checks, DUI/DMV screens and drug testing.
Coming soon, Kiddie Commute will offer GPS tracking to allow parents to locate their children via a mobile device.
Payment options are flexible to meet a variety of budgets, with options to pay per trip, weekly or monthly.
9. Rush Hour Kids Transportation
Rush Hour Kids Transportation provides shuttle transportation for kids to and from school, as well as local parks and other fun activities in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
The idea is to relieve the pressure from parents who may otherwise be too busy to take on such tasks. The company services children and teens from Pre-K through high school.
10. EK4Kids
Created by parents for parents, EK4Kids serves children age 3 and up who need rides to and from school, daycare, camp, etc. It also offers transportation for parties or family rides.
One of the company’s claims to fame is that the service allows children to attend schools outside of their area, where bus access is not available.
Drivers are experienced and highly vetted with clean driving records, clearance from the FBI, and more.
The service is based in Maryland.
11. Katy Kids Shuttle
Katy Kids Shuttle offers child transportation services for weekly rates as low as $55 one way/$75 round trip and daily rates around $12 one way/$18 round trip in the Houston, Texas area.
The service offers pickup and dropoff to and from home, school, activities, the airport, birthdays, special events and more, giving parents and caregivers some relief from the rush of life, while making sure the kids are covered.
12. Care Commute
Care Commute is a school shuttle service with busy parents in mind.
The company, founded by a teacher and coach, specializes in afterschool transportation, athletics events and extracurriculars in the North Dallas area.
Rates run from $8-15 daily or $160-190 monthly.
The service has partnerships with local after-school enrichment programs, and drivers must submit to several background checks for safety purposes.
13. Kidz on the Go
Kidz on the Go provides services ranging from transportation to carpool services to nanny services in the Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas area.
It relieves working parents of the need to be in two places at once. Options include weekly transportation, monthly transportation and after-school transportation (one-way or roundtrip), nanny services, private chauffeur services and emergency pickup services.
For increased safety, the service uses up-to-date vehicles such as Cadillac Escalades, Chevy Tahoes, Chevy Suburbans, and standard cars instead of 16-passenger vans.
Where to get the app:
- Not yet available – A new mobile app is coming soon, according to their website.
14. Bizzy Kids Kab Company
Bizzy Kids Cab Company serves Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Rock Hill, Charlotte, Lancaster, Indian Land, Gastonia, Matthews & surrounding areas of South Carolina, operating Monday through Friday, 6:30 a.m. – 7 p.m.
With safety in mind, children using the services are provided with identification cards with unique ID numbers, and drivers and passengers are required to wear seatbelts at all times. Vehicles are inspected three times per year, and drivers are DOT trained and CPR certified.
The company accepts contracts for businesses as well.
Rates range from $17-26 one way (0-10 miles). There are also options for round trips, as well as single weekly and round-trip weekly rides.
Customers range from 6 weeks to 17 years old.
15. Moms Helping Moms Shuttles
Moms Helping Moms offers convenient and safe transportation for children in and around Coral Springs, Florida.
The service’s “No Child Left Behind” guarantee offers door-to-door services where the driver doesn’t leave until the child is safely inside his or her destination.
Drivers are mandated to complete a variety of courses and certifications to ensure your child’s safety. They are trained in CPR and First Aid, Anti-Bullying, Child Abuse Awareness, Child Conflict Resolution and more.
MHM serves children ages 4-17.
16. Zum
Zum is a rideshare and babysitting service for kids ages 5 and up in the Orange County and San Francisco Bay area.
Parents can track rides in real time via their cell phones. The service takes pride in safety, and also punctuality.
Ride plus care allows for childcare services to occur before, after or even during the ride.
Where to get the app:
17. Kids Kruiser
Kids Kruiser is a premium transport service carting kids 5 and up around Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The service prides itself on safety and cleanliness, with 20-point inspections for its vehicles, which are newer-model four-door vehicles.
Patrons can now check in online to be notified when their children have been picked up or dropped off, and rides can be tracked.
Each child rider has a unique QR code that can be scanned by the driver at checkpoints.
Fares, as low as $15 for 0-3 miles, are prepaid 24 hours in advance via Paypal. Families must pay an annual $30 membership fee to participate.
18. Zem Car
Zem Car claims to be the safest rideshare service out there for children. It operates in Boston, Massachusetts.
Users on the service can build their own personal circle of trusted drivers and interview potentials on the app. They can also book one-time or schedule recurring rides and provide audio, video and text permission or instructions for drivers.
Parents receive text alerts when the driver is on the way, when the ride starts and when the driver reaches the destination. They can also watch the ride live via a secure video feed on the app.
Where to get the app:
19. Sheprd
Sheprd offers on-demand shared rides for students in grades K-12 in the Newton, Massachusetts area.
The service has more than 70 trusted partners, including the John M. Berry Boys & Girls Club of Newton, the YWCA, and many more.
In-area rides within Netwon city limits are available at a flat $17 fee. Extended-area pickup and drop-off rates can be estimated on the service’s website.
Sheprd vehicles come complete with in-car WiFi, TV and chargers.
20. Kid Car
Kid Car claims to be the only card service for kids available in New York since 2006.
Kid Car drivers are fingerprinted, vetted and trained for safety.
The service’s vehicles, which include sedans, minivans and SUVs, can handle up to four car seats for children 5-120 pounds.
Special services include airport transports, newborn transports home from the hospital, and kid carpools. The service handles advance reservations and on-demand rides.
Where to get the app:
21. Bubbl Dallas
Bubbl is a transportation service in the Dallas, Texas area.
What makes this rideshare service stand out from the rest is that the drivers are off-duty or retired police officers.
Bubbl drivers accept riders from 8-17 years old. Rides start at $17 per person for the first two passengers.
Where to get the app:
- Bubbl for IOS
Carpool apps
Not exactly rideshare or shuttle services, the following services and apps help parents coordinate with one another to streamline carpooling agreements and communication. Many of these can be accessed and used anywhere parents have an internet or mobile connection.
22. Carpool Kids
Carpool Kids isn’t really a shuttle service, but it can help you better organize your kids’ carpool.
It was created to make communications with your friends and family, regarding driving schedules, a breeze.
It can be used anywhere and can sync with the rest of your schedule.
Where to get the app:
- Carpool Kids for IOS
23. Kibzy
Kibzy allows parents to help other parents and build a carpool network through an app designed to help streamline child transportation.
Parents decide which connections they trust and which they don’t. The app offers notifications, reminders and the ability to track your kids’ rides.
You can even earn points toward rewards for taking your turn to drive the carpool.
The service’s core tenet involves trust – and it is set up to help you build just that within the Kibzy community.
The service is based out of Massachusetts, but available anywhere you can download the app.
Where to get the app:
- Kibzy for IOS
24. Pogo Rides
Pogo Rides is a parent-powered ride-sharing community.
It helps parents find other nearby parents driving similar routes to make carpool matches that make sense.
Give a ride or take a ride. Track trips to ensure your children’s safety, and use the messaging feature in the app to communicate.
It is available anywhere you can download the app.
Where to get the app:
25. GoKid
The GoKid app allows parents to schedule and track rideshares to and from school, activities and more.
Don’t bother with long email and text chains ever again – just streamline your communications with the app.
You can also track rides and set notifications for yourself.
Where to get the app:
26. Figure8
Figure8 is a ridesharing app that can be accessed anywhere you have an internet connection.
It allows parents to arrange carpools with their peers and keep track of their kids’ activities.
Real-time updates offer parents peace of mind and auto reminders are a lifesaver for busy parents.
Where to get the app:
- Figure8 for IOS
Things to consider (for parents)
If putting your children into the care of other drivers gives you a bit of anxiety like it does me, there are some questions to ask before settling on a transportation company for your most precious cargo.
It might be worth a conversation anyway.
- How long have they been in business?
- What’s their story – how did they get started? And why?
- How much professional insurance does the company carry?
- Are your drivers employees or contractors?
- How rigorous is the screening process for drivers?
- What’s the training process like?
- Do you have a business license?
We’ve done some of the work for you here, but have not necessarily tried the services ourselves. Always do your own research on services like these before using them.
Opportunity knocks
Don’t see a service available in your community? Think startup!
Many of these services were created by parents just like you, for parents just like you. It might just be your big break.
Your turn
Parents, have you ever used any of these kid-friendly ridesharing services? If so what has your experience been like?
Drivers, do you drive with any of these companies? How much on average can a driver make with these “Uber for kids” transportation companies and apps?
Share your thoughts