As HopSkipDrive celebrates its 10th year in 2024, we’re continuing to leverage data-driven insights, innovative technology, and collaborative partnerships to further enhance our mission of creating opportunity for all through mobility. 

A big part of our focus on safe, reliable, and equitable transportation solutions for all is ensuring transparency every step of the way. Since 2019, we’ve remained the first and only student transportation organization that openly shares key safety metrics by publishing an annual Safety Report. 

Below, we’re outlining some of the main takeaways from our 2023 Safety Report, which details our 2023 safety data while also highlighting some of the recent and upcoming technology-based innovations that are helping us raise the bar and set a new standard for school transportation safety and transparency.

Our safety data proves our platform and processes are safe — and scalable

With safety as our guiding principle, we’re proud to say that we are able to demonstrate an extremely strong track record for safety — and our 2023 safety data is no exception. More than 1.2 million rides covering more than 25 million safe miles were completed on the HopSkipDrive platform in 2023 — representing a more than 50 percent increase in rides from the prior year. Despite this significant increase in ride volume, 99.7% of these rides concluded without a safety incident of any kind. 

This impressive data, which has been consistent year over year since we published HopSkipDrive’s first Safety Report, indicates that our in-depth safety processes, products, and policies remain highly effective — even as the platform grows.

We’re pleased to be able back up our unwavering commitment to prioritizing the safety and well-being of everyone who uses the HopSkipDrive platform with data that consistently demonstrates our ability to deliver secure and reliable transportation solutions, earning the trust of parents, schools, and organizations across the nation.

Embracing technology results in safer, more effective transportation solutions

We believe in a proactive approach to safety, especially when it comes to utilizing and integrating new technology to continually improve outcomes and strengthen safety. Through real-time monitoring and innovative safety features, HopSkipDrive ensures that every ride is conducted with the utmost care and precision.

We’re in a new era of safety, where we have access to more types of information gleaned from modern technology including smartphones, GPS tracking, and even artificial intelligence. Our ability to evaluate key performance indicators like driving behavior, impairment, and vehicle operations in real-time has redefined safety measurement, enabling us to develop new and better ways of minimizing risk. Our systems enable us to track and respond to things like route deviations or driving patterns as they happen, providing an unprecedented level of insight and intervention.

HopSkipDrive’s 2023 Safety Report features a roundup of recent and upcoming technology upgrades, all of which are designed to ensure the safest possible platform; continually safeguard Rider privacy; deliver smooth, on-time pickups and drop-offs; and support continual improvement. You can read the full report to learn more about all of them, but here’s an overview of a few:

• Proactive Ride Intervention: The mobile telematics technology and alerts that are hallmarks of the HopSkipDrive safety platform will be leveraged to make proactive decisions before a ride even begins. If our platform detects, through mobile telematics, thresholds of driving behavior that may indicate unsafe driving while a CareDriver is on the way to pick up a Rider, our Safe Ride Support team will receive an immediate alert and take proactive action.

• Enhancements to Rider Privacy: We have long incorporated just-in-time information displays, which ensure all Users see only the information necessary for completing relevant steps of a ride. HopSkipDrive’s CareDriver app will now reveal approved Rider and back-seat accommodation details progressively to help ensure Rider information is continually protected and communicated only on an as-needed basis.

• In-App Navigation: Improvements in the HopSkipDrive CareDriver app will allow for turn-by-turn navigation right within the app, helping to reduce unnecessary phone usage and empowering CareDrivers to deliver even better experiences for Riders. In addition, during a ride, the in-app navigation screen will alert a CareDriver if they exceed the speed limit so they can slow down, adding another layer of safety.

HopSkipDrive’s leading safety-first approach fosters accountability and transparency

HopSkipDrive's commitment to safety is a fundamental aspect of our company ethos. We've implemented a comprehensive set of safety measures and protocols to ensure the well-being of every passenger who trusts us with their transportation needs. 

We earn that trust by providing complete visibility at each stage of a ride so that caregivers, parents, and school districts can have peace of mind, while our Safe Ride Support System monitors every step of every ride in real-time. We’re proud that in a recent third-party study, school transportation teams that were asked about their experience with supplemental or alternative transportation solutions ranked HopSkipDrive number one for the safest drivers, and as the safest solution overall.

HopSkipDrive was the first organization in the student transportation industry to not only define safety far more broadly but also openly share our in-depth safety metrics through our annual Safety Report. We believe organizations that serve kids and the education system must be transparent with their safety efforts, and we hope — and expect — to see others in the industry join us in publishing relevant safety data soon.

With constant evolution comes solutions to complex transportation challenges

Since the founding of HopSkipDrive in 2014, our focus on achieving the company’s mission of “creating opportunity for all through mobility” has evolved beyond directly helping families to also include working with school districts, schools, government agencies, counties, nonprofits, and other organizations across the country.

Now, we’re not only connecting kids, older adults, and anyone who needs extra support to our network of highly vetted CareDrivers; we’re also building software and offering advisory services that solve the biggest transportation challenges facing schools and school districts today, including budget cuts, bus driver shortages, and reaching climate goals.

Every day, the HopSkipDrive team works to build a platform that arranges the highest quality, care-centered transportation that reflects the world we live in — and addresses what kids, families, districts and schools, and communities need. In addition to setting a new standard for safety, our vision is to supplement existing transportation options by bridging gaps, promoting equity, eliminating inefficiencies, and providing advanced technology solutions to solve existing challenges.

Looking ahead, as we continue to invest in innovative solutions that raise the bar, we aim to expand our reach and impact to help ensure that every student has access to safe, reliable, and equitable transportation options in 2024 and beyond.

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