Innovative ride-request app a convenient and safe transport solution for South African parents

 

 

Parents in South Africa now have access to an innovative mobile application that delivers a safe and affordable transport solution for their children to and from school and extra mural activities. Modeled on popular ride-request apps, Schoolride is developed by a South African parent for South African parents who want a safe, convenient and affordable way to transport their children when they can’t.

Schoolride uses a network of registered drivers who must be parents of children in participating schools within their community. While providing safe, per-request rides for children needing to get to school and back, or to and from extra mural activities, registered Schoolride parent-drivers can also earn money for the trips they make. Schoolride has successfully been piloted at a number of schools in Pretoria and Benoni Gauteng and is now ready for roll-out to other areas.

“We are heartened by the response to the pilot project in Pretoria and Benoni.”

“The simple process of requesting a ride using a mobile device and the fact that drivers are parents of children registered in a school in your community puts parents at ease that their children will be safely collected and carried to where they need to be,” says Gerhard Viljoen and Ian Van Niekerk, founders of Schoolride.

The Schoolride app is available in the App Store and on Google Play for download onto the parent / guardian and child’s smartphone. As with other similar ride-request apps, the parent or scholar then requests a ride using the app. When booking a ride, the parent / guardian or scholar will specify their school, the pick-up and drop off addresses, as well as the time. An available parent-driver will accept the request and the requesting passenger will receive notification of the driver’s name, vehicle registration and estimated time for the pick-up. The scholar’s parent / guardian will receive notification when the child has been collected and another alert when the child has been safely dropped off at their destination.

While offering scholars a safe and convenient way to get where they need to be, Schoolride also offers income earning opportunities for parent-drivers who earn money for the trips they do.

“To be a Schoolride driver, you have to have a child attending a participating school in your community. You can then register as a parent-driver and provide rides for children from those schools. A percentage of the fares for the rides you give is extra income,” explains Van Niekerk.

Schoolride relies on schools’ endorsements to market the app to parents to become parent-drivers and for other parents and their children in the schools to make use of the service. This offers parents peace of mind that their children will only be able to take rides with a driver who is a parent of a child at the same school or a nearby school in their community.

Please visit www.schoolride.co.za for more information on this exciting service. Watch instructional videos on registering as a parent-driver, parent / guardian and scholar.

Email info@schoolride.co.za

Follow Schoolride on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram

For any media interviews, please call Gerhard Viljoen on 082 809 4001.