HopSkipDrive is preparing for the upcoming school year with the rollout of new offerings and products designed to meet school districts’ most complex transportation needs. The company has also added to its team.

The New Lineup at a Glance

In direct response to feedback from school leaders, HopSkipDrive has developed a suite of purpose-built products designed to streamline the school pickup and drop-off experience. The new offerings include:

• Daily Queue, which empowers school staff to see HopSkipDrive ride details, giving school staff the visibility transportation teams have, making pickups and dropoffs an even more seamless experience

• New secure, direct communication between CareDrivers and school staff

• New in-App CareDriver Enhanced Digital ID

In addition, HopSkipDrive will power rides in select markets for students requiring wheelchair-accessible vehicles as part of the company’s commitment to meet all student transportation needs.

These offerings build upon last year's back-to-school launch of five products and services — including advanced routing technology, expanded offerings for students with disabilities, and a new ride pooling solution.

"HopSkipDrive’s industry-leading safety and transparency is always complemented by our technology-led approach to solving challenges in student transportation,” HopSkipDrive Chief Product and Technology Officer Corey McMahon said. “Our tools not only help address the challenges caused by underutilized routes and a national bus driver shortage, but also the increased need for more personalized transportation offerings. We do this while delivering what school leaders, parents, caregivers, and communities rightly expect: nothing less than safe, reliable rides to and from school.”

Streamlining the Drop-Off and Pickup Process

Heightened Visibility at the Drop-Off/Pickup Line

School transportation managers can now empower school staff managing car lines with RideIQ access, HopSkipDrive's ride management platform.

The new Daily Queue feature provides staff with the same real-time view that school transportation teams have of which students have been matched with which CareDriver, as well as CareDriver and vehicle details.

This heightened visibility allows on-site staff to efficiently manage car lines and the school drop-off and pick-up areas, while ensuring that each child finds their driver seamlessly. Daily Queue provides real-time status updates and arrival ETAs for each CareDriver.

Daily Queue is also viewable in a printable list, which can help in cases where service reception or Wi-Fi access on mobile devices are not easily accessible.

It can also be accessed via a mobile device or traditional desktop, removing the need for school staff to have district-provided devices or needing to download apps onto personal devices.

“Daily Queue has enabled me to fully focus on my role as a ride organizer by saving me valuable time and allowing me to focus on ride management,” said Marcy Phelps, Director of Transportation of Littleton Public Schools. “With onsite staff seeing real-time ride data, they can efficiently track rides heading to their school and coordinate directly with CareDrivers. This seamless integration has significantly streamlined our operations, ensuring smoother and more responsive service for our students."

Direct Connections to CareDrivers During the Ride

Users of RideIQ can now directly call CareDrivers – the vetted local caregivers providing safe rides in their vehicles – to help answer questions and quickly resolve issues like location confusion or a traffic delay.

Phone numbers will appear as masked data during a ride, and RideIQ users will only have access to the CareDriver’s masked phone number for the duration of the ride.

"HopSkipDrive’s strong relationship with both CareDrivers and school districts - unlike traditional transportation brokers - allows us to design products that create more seamless and integrated end-to-end experiences," said McMahon. "This not only makes the process of arranging transportation easier and more efficient, but it also enables us to deliver more innovative solutions.”

Enhanced Digital IDs for CareDrivers

HopSkipDrive is introducing Digital ID within the CareDriver app, enabling CareDrivers to seamlessly identify themselves to school staff at arrival, helping onsite staff verify the CareDriver’s identity and further streamline pickup and dropoff.

This new feature includes the CareDriver’s name, photo, and vehicle info, complementing HopSkipDrive’s existing protocols such as required multi-factor verification to begin a ride and RideIQ’s privacy standards.

Supporting Students with Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

HopSkipDrive is introducing the ability for school districts to book rides through the HopSkipDrive platform for students requiring wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Many school districts have long expressed their desire to partner with the company to address the unique transportation needs of their students who use wheelchairs.

“HopSkipDrive has been a strong partner to DPS for many years, and we’re glad to be able to work with HopSkipDrive to meet the vital needs of students in wheelchairs,” said Albert Samoa, Executive Director of Transportation of Denver Public Schools. “HopSkipDrive’s approach to safety and technology make arranging transportation convenient and reliable, and we’re looking forward to the school year ahead.”

Initially available in select cities in California and Colorado, the company intends to expand access to this offering more broadly.

Focusing on HopSkipDrive's Safety Strategy

HopSkipDrive recently announced several additions to its team. Among them is Senior Vice President of Safety Jen Brandenburger. She leads the company’s safety strategy and execution, building on its industry leadership across products, policies, and procedures.

"I'm excited to join HopSkipDrive and support school districts in meeting the evolving transportation needs of students," Brandenburger told School Bus Fleet. "HopSkipDrive is committed to being the industry's safest and most trusted platform, as reflected in our exceptional safety track record. I look forward to collaborating with education and transportation leaders to understand their needs, and ensure HopSkipDrive continues to deliver innovative solutions that support their goals and serve as an additional tool in their toolkit."

Brandenburger recently served as Head of Product Policy, U.S. Data Security at TikTok.

Before that, she spent a total of eight years at Lyft in various roles, including building and scaling Lyft’s first Trust & Safety organization, and ultimately serving as the company’s Head of Policy Development and Research, where she played a critical role in translating business objectives into actionable policy at the local, state, and national levels.

Brandenburger holds a B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a J.D. from the Seattle University School of Law.

HopSkipDrive also announced Richa Mehta as its vice president of finance and strategy, and Lacey Plache as vice president of data science and analytics.