The idea to carpool isn’t new. But currently it is a pain to organize. How come, if there are amazing technologies out there, no one has thought about building an easy and fun to use app for parents to manage their kids’ transportation needs?
When I first used Uber in the city I couldn’t believe it. A name and picture for the driver? Seeing the car approaching and knowing how many minutes to wait? Not having to figure out the right amount of tip at the end of the ride? Receiving an email invoice? Amazing. Compare that to the many unpleasant cab rides (every New Yorker has many of those stories to share), the struggle for the right way, the begging for a legible invoice. With Uber I bought in after the first ride – this technology of solving transportation needs instantly and seamlessly is amazing, and is here to stay.
When I remember the times that I hand designed and printed birthday invitations and mailed them to other parents (stamps and all) I feel ancient. But it was only 6 years ago. Ever since, I’ve been using Evite or Paperless Post for all of our invitations. Want to know who is coming? Check the guest list. Questions from the guests? Provide an answer for everyone via the service. Emails about drop off and pick up? Just send instructions. But still – no one recommends to share rides to the parties – why is that?
And another one of my favorites: Family communication…. two work schedules and four family schedules, plus the babysitter schedule. Who is telling whom? Trust me, we’re trying it all: Email, text message, Google calendars, boards on the fridge, letters to the babysitter – we even try to talk occasionally. Somehow I always felt it all depended on me doing the ultimate scheduling. I Googled for parenting technology tips and someone recommended a productivity app called Cozi. I downloaded the app and started filling in our many events. Uploaded pictures for every family member, and added the babysitter. The beauty of it: instant notification and a weekly calendar sent out to the family members automatically. While not everyone in the family has embraced the app as much as I have, we have a new family rule: If it’s not in Cozi, it doesn’t exist.
Still, there was no perfect productivity app for carpooling my kids. After using Uber instead of taxis, Evite for birthday invitations and Cozi for our family communication tool I was convinced: The combination of a shareable calendar, Uber and Paperless Post will be the solution for easy ride sharing for our communities.
Our journey begins.
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