I learned this week about a new car service for busy parents.  It’s called Shuddle.  Modeled after the very successful Uber, Shuddle is a ride service operating in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Like Uber, Shuddle utilizes drivers who own their own cars, and both use a smart phone app for scheduling, monitoring, and paying for rides.  However, there is a key difference.  Although parents arrange for rides and pay for them, Shuddle’s real clients are children.

As a result, the selection process for drivers is different.  The Shuddle website states “We screen for friendly and reliable caregivers who have experience working with kids like nannies, teachers, babysitters, counselors and parents.”  Drivers are selected for their suitability for working with children.  The process, again according to the Shuddle website, includes a face to face interview, employer references, criminal background check, motor vehicle records check, vehicle inspection, and in-person training and orientation.  Shuddle even pays drivers to obtain Trustline status.   (Trustline is a California-based registry for caregivers.)  Oh, and all their drivers, so far, are women.

Their scheduling system is also different from Uber, which responds in minutes to a call.  My son uses Uber when he travels, and he calls one to take me to my hotel when I visit him.  They are amazingly prompt, often arriving only ten or fifteen minutes after being contacted.  Shuddle rides, on the other hand, must be reserved at least the day before, up to a week ahead of time.  The Shuddle service also incorporates several elements of security.  Parents select a secret password for their child, and the drivers give that password when they arrive to pick up the child.

Photo provided by Uber

Parents receive a text when the car arrives, and they can trace the car’s route on their smart phone.

In order to use the Shuddle service, youngsters must be able to enter and exit a car with little assistance, be comfortable and well behaved traveling without parental supervision, and legally able to ride without a car seat or booster.  They also need to have a text-enabled phone.  Children who have been interviewed by Shuddle marketing folks say that they enjoy the independence and street cred that being picked up in a nice car can provide, and clearly there is a market for the service.  Shuddle’s tag line, “Live More, Drive Less,” undoubtedly resonates with busy parents.   And the company makes using the service seem so natural: “Shuddle helps you handle your dynamic family life by solving scheduling conflicts, freeing up time to make a home cooked meal, or simply allowing you to breathe after a hectic day.”

Still, I can’t help wondering if parents actually believe that Shuddle is safe and secure, or if they are simply trying to convince themselves that it is.  After all, what could go wrong?

The idea of using a car service for children is a controversial one, no matter whether it is a personally-owned limousine or a car for hire.  And not only because accidents happen, and humans are fallible.  Parents who send a car to pick up their children from school or dancing lessons are likely to be the subject of gossip, rolling eyes, tut tuts and the like because other parents, struggling with the same complicated schedules, school calendars, and work or home responsibilities, feel just a little superior because they are managing to meet those responsibilities themselves.  Parenting is tough, and we need to pat ourselves on the backs when we are doing a good job.

Photo credit: Shuddle website

But does that mean that we shouldn’t take any shortcuts, get help from other sources?  Personally, I would have been grateful for a car service when I had four children attending three different schools, and I was teaching in a fourth.  But I can understand why arrows hurled toward parents using Shuddle or other car services include avoiding parental duties, taking unnecessary risks with their children’s safety, and even missing out on poignant car-pooling moments.

I’m not going to add my own fears to this list.  It appears to me that the people running Shuddle have done their due diligence in designing the service, and are well aware of parents’ concerns.  It is in their interest to keep listening, and to make adjustments as they go forward.

What do you think?  Would you use Shuddle or a similar service for your child or grandchild?  Would you prefer that your children’s grandparents offered to do more driving? If you are a grandparent, would you like to be asked? Start the conversation by posting a comment below.  (No one will see your email address but me.)

Marlene