Shuddle Cab, The Startup Taxi Services That Guarantees Your Child’s Safety
The daily demands of life from parents sometimes make it hard for you to drive your kids to school or wherever they need to go. Sometimes parents are forced to make the hard decision and decide to use taxi services like Uber. In such a case, what you are doing is put your child’s safety in danger since most of these taxi services can’t guarantee you, your child’s safety.
Well, one American startup, Shuddle, calling itself the personal taxi services for children, is set to remove that worry from parents. Now parents’ load of having to chauffer their kids has been removed and can now be entrusted to a taxi service that has drivers whom the taxi service can vouch for as having clean background.
Shuddle first launched in San Francisco and charges parents $9 per month as a subscription fee, in addition to the individual ride fare. Parents are also able to book for a Shuddle taxi up to a week earlier.
Shuddle operates by sending the driver’s full name, picture, short bio and a description of the car to the parents. Parents can also use the company’s app to track the taxi’s journey in real times as it transports their kids from the convenience of their smartphones.
All drivers working for Shuddle’s cabs must have childcare experience and pass a thorough background check. The company so far has 100 drivers, all of who being women.
“We screen for friendly and reliable caregivers who have experience working with kids like nannies, teachers, babysitters, counsellors and parents,” reads the company’s website.
The founder Nick Allen told Recode, “The human element is important. Yes, we make an app, but this is your most precious cargo and we take that very seriously.”
You would be surprised to know that some parents have been entrusting the safety of their children by letting them being driven by strangers using their own cards. Perhaps even more surprising is that there are parents who rely on Uber and Sidecar taxi services to transport their children. Allen co-founded Sidecar taxi services and can attest to the fact that neither Uber nor Sidecar have the same level of child-safety-specific security measures installed or even have an insurance to carry children.
Shuddle main selling point is the child’s safety. The fact that some parents are already using Uber and Sidecar to transport their children proves that there is a market niche, in need of the Shuddle taxi.
You can read more about Shuddle taxi from The Guardian by following this link.