HopSkipDrive School Transportation FAQs

HopSkipDrive CareDrivers are residents of the local communities where the schools and organizations we partner with are located. CareDrivers are required to have at least five years of caregiving experience, two of which must be child-centric. Many CareDrivers are parents, former teachers or school personnel, retired daycare owners, social workers, or have experience in similar professions working with children or others who need a little extra care.

People who become certified as CareDrivers on the HopSkipDrive platform are often referred to us through family, friends and schools. They also frequently hear about us on social media.

CareDrivers are uniquely qualified individuals who have passed HopSkipDrive’s comprehensive 15-point CareDriver certification process. This process includes detailed requirements and background checks including a comprehensive search of county, state and national criminal records; a social security trace; global watchlist and sex offender registry review; driving record checks; fingerprinting; and child abuse and neglect screening.

No, HopSkipDrive is not like Uber or Lyft for kids. Those solutions are designed for adults; HopSkipDrive is specifically designed to arrange safe transportation for children ages six and up. Because we provide a solution for youth transportation, we use completely different — and far more rigorous — safety technology and processes.

Yes, CareDrivers do use their own vehicles, which must meet stringent HopSkipDrive requirements. In order to be cleared for use via the HopSkipDrive platform, CareDriver must own or lease a 4-7 passenger vehicle that is no older than 13 years old*, have a current registration and pass an inspection (annually) with a certified mechanic. CareDriver vehicles must meet all applicable industry and state department of motor vehicle requirements for a vehicle of its kind, be in good operating condition, and have four doors and room to seat four to seven passengers.

*In DC, MD, PA and Seattle, vehicles must be no more than 10 years old.

The short answer is: We can’t 100% guarantee this. Our model is based on individual CareDriver availability, which is one of the factors that make our solution flexible and cost-effective. That being said, CareDrivers often select rides that are familiar to them, which means Riders do often get the same CareDriver — especially when they sign up for a recurring Ride Series. On average, Riders see only three CareDrivers in a 90-day period.

We aim to bring as much consistency as possible to the HopSkipDrive ride experience, which has been carefully designed to ensure it is the same every time, with every CareDriver.

Our flexible, user-friendly RideIQ platform makes it easy to build out new rides or edit existing ones. Each ride created in RideIQ is scheduled as a single, one-way pickup ride (scheduled around a specific pickup time) or drop-off ride (scheduled around a specific drop-off time).

Up to four Riders can be added to a ride, as can additional pickup or drop-offs (as long as all Riders will be dropped off or picked up in the same place). If you’d like to schedule a repeating set of rides, you can schedule a Ride Series.

Watch video tutorials of RideIQ or learn more about scheduling rides in RideIQ here.

Rides can be scheduled as little as 8 hours in advance. Our recommendation, however, is that rides be scheduled at least 24 hours prior to the ride time. This timeframe helps to ensure that everyone is prepared for the ride. With HopSkipDrive’s scalable network of CareDrivers, education rides are always guaranteed.

Once your organization books a ride for a Rider, the assigned parent or guardian — or “caregiver,” as we refer to them — on the Rider’s account will receive text notifications from us letting them know their Rider will be receiving transportation through HopSkipDrive. Caregivers will also receive emails from us onboarding them to HopSkipDrive.

At this point, we encourage parents/caregivers to download the HopSkipDrive caregiver app, which will enable them to track rides in real-time and cancel unneeded rides on their end. Whether or not the app is downloaded, caregivers will receive text messages from HopSkipDrive about their rides, including photos of the CareDriver and their vehicle as well as ongoing ride status updates.

Learn more about the communications we deliver to parents/caregivers in an effort to ensure a strong partnership with HopSkipDrive across all fronts.

CareDriver vehicles can be identified by the orange HopSkipDrive decals that are displayed in the vehicle’s front and back windshields.

Yes, HopSkipDrive partners with school districts all over the country to fulfill transportation for students with special needs or those who need a little extra care. Our platform makes it easy to arrange alternative transportation on an individual basis, customized to each student’s unique requirements.