Riding Together for School Carpools: RideAmigos and GoKid Partner Up

The team at RideAmigos is thrilled to announce an exciting new partnership aimed at making morning commutes smoother, reduce the impact of school transportation on traffic and air quality, and support data-driven transportation demand management initiatives. GoKid, the leading school carpool solution, is teaming up with RideAmigos Commute Hub to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing our communities today: school traffic.

Why school carpooling?

You’ve probably noticed the morning rush hour chaos around schools, with cars lining up to drop off kids. This is contributing to congestion, emissions, and safety concerns. The cause is clear. According to a 2022 National Household Travel Survey, more than half of U.S. students are driven to school, adding to traffic jams and pollution levels. 

A nationwide shortage of school bus drivers has aggravated the situation, and there are no signs of this trend reversing. School carpooling is an important transportation demand management strategy and a way schools and planning agencies can empower families to safely get their kids to school. 

How we can help

RideAmigos and GoKid are joining forces to empower agencies and school districts to collaborate more closely to provide schools and families with access to school carpooling, and measure the impact in terms of reduced emissions and vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) as part of a comprehensive transportation demand management strategy.  

GoKid is already on the ground, working directly with schools and districts in 12 states, and has scheduled 1.4 million secure carpooling trips among parents. Their solution, GoKid Connect helps families connect, organize school carpools, and track metrics like miles saved and reduced greenhouse gasses.

RideAmigos Regional Commute Hub is the hub for transportation demand management that lets agencies, TMAs, employers, and schools work together on programs to influence mode shift and improve regional mobility. Now, schools that license GoKid Connect will have the option to collaborate with planning agencies using RideAmigos Commute hub to measure shared impact.

When they do, planning agencies will be able to get a clearer picture of the impact of school carpool programs they support using RideAmigos Commute Hub reporting tools. This means smarter decisions, better collaboration, and, ultimately, fewer cars on the road during peak hours.

“The impact of daily individual school transportation on overall congestion and regional mobility can’t be understated,” said Soren Eilertsen, CEO at RideAmigos. “We are proud to offer our state and regional agency partners another data-driven way to connect school traffic reduction with their broader regional mode-shift programs through our partnership with GoKid.”

“The reduction of school buses due to budget cuts and the bus driver shortage is increasing pressure on communities to offer an alternative transportation solution to students,” said Stefanie Lemke, CEO at GoKid. “We are excited to partner with RideAmigos to offer our GoKid Connect carpool program to schools and districts in regions implementing RideAmigos’ data-driven transportation demand management programs.”

Learn more

The launch of this partnership couldn’t come at a better time. With traffic levels rebounding post-pandemic and school bus shortages exacerbating the situation, now is the time to act. This partnership supports our public agency customers in building a safe, sustainable, and more equitable future for our communities.

Are you a Regional Commute Hub manager ready to connect? Or do you want to know if schools in your region are using or considering GoKid? Get started today by contacting our sales team or reaching out to your customer success manager.

 

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