The app is the brainchild of Tiffini Hein, MD of Cool (kids’) Cabs – a leading scholar transport provider in Gauteng. The app allows parents to book all their children’s lifts in advance, or on an ad-hoc basis, all in a matter of minutes.
“There is a very real need in this country to help busy parents balance it all. We have been providing our service for over 10 years, currently servicing over 205 schools daily, and we felt that it was time to develop the technology to make our safe scholar transport even more accessible. This has been years in the making with our developers ensuring the end-product is safe and easy to use. It’s peace of mind at your fingertips,” says Hein.
With the highest security in place, the app allows you to enter your child’s information, detailing their drop off and collection points and times, as well as allocated guardians who you trust to sign for your child upon collection. The drivers will not leave until your child is safely with one of the approved guardians, who are required to interact with the driver’s device in order to verify drop off by means of a secure one time pin. You can set up your child’s full term (or school year) in advance or on an ad-hoc basis should extra-murals or a birthday party come up that you want them to attend. You will also be able to view your child’s driver profile so that you and your child can familiarise yourselves with who will be driving.
One of the key safety features of this app is the real-time tracking of every trip. You can monitor each trip as they happen to ensure your child gets to where they need to be safely and on time. This is combined with SMS notifications that are sent on collection and drop off.
The safety features in the app mirror the standard features of the Cool (kids’) Cabs service. “We provide only female drivers who are extensively vetted and trained in childcare, 24/7 live tracking on every trip, onboard cameras, properly installed car seats and daily safety checks on all vehicles,” says Hein. “This app connects you to our pool of screened, trained, lady drivers, in one of our safety equipped vehicles – this is about connecting parents with child carers in safe vehicles, not about placing children in strangers’ cars.”
In this country, many ride-hailing services do not allow for unaccompanied minors to travel in their vehicles. It is also illegal for a minor (children under 18 years of age) to enter into any form of commercial contract. Apart from the legalities, one must also question the safety of your child when you allow them to travel with an unvetted stranger with potentially no experience with children.
“We are acutely aware, especially in this country, of the real need to ensure our children are safe at all times when we can’t be with them. That’s why our team is so obsessed with safety and why our app is a direct extension of that. Parents need a service that is 100% reliable but also one that can be used at the touch of a button. Stuck in a meeting? Use our app and we will fetch your child. Lift club let you down? Have your child’s lift booked within minutes. We care when you can’t be there,” concludes Hein.
The Cool (kids’) Cabs app is now available for download on the App store and Play store.
