
HopSkipDrive raises $22M to focus on school transportation - prostoalex
https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/06/hopskipdrive-raises-22-million-to-focus-on-school-transportation-70-percent-of-revenue-is-enterprise/
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rexreed
Agree that school transportation is a solved problem. Shoving more cars into
carpool lanes in schools with 2-3 kids per car (tops) instead of more
efficient buses seems like a backwards step.

They did not adequately answer the trust problem either.

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chrisbrandow
Not solved for the foster care system where kids are temporarily living in the
wrong school district, so it doesn’t make sense to move them into a new
school. There is an unbelievable amount of terrible ad hoc solutions. A
dispatchable service like this is really helpful. (My wife is an attorney for
such kids)

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cheez
How does she handle dealing with the childrens stories?

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fhbdukfrh
I suspect the economics for this only work because all drivers are
contractors. The founder spent a lot of time highlighting the factors that
support the contractor story but with recent changes in specifically
California I'd be wary; it's becoming harder to justify the contractor
narrative when the market maker controls the entire supply side, ie if they
set the prices and the wages ahead of time (and it sounds like they do) it
starts to look an awful lot like regular part time shift work.

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dhshshdjd
I'm not sure I see the justification problem here. It's not harder to justify
contractors, the reasons for using them are still the same, California simply
decided it knew better than the contractors and changed the law to force them
to become proper employees. The problem is wholly political and not a case
where it makes sense to say one side is more justified than the other.

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i386
The need for this in America shows how much of a market wasteland it is.
School travel by bus (public and chartered), train, even in rural areas, is
100% government government funded and supported in Australia.

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rayiner
The same is true of nearly every state in the U.S. California, ironically, is
one of the states where school districts aren't required to provide bus
service to everyone. Apparently, it also varies by state in Australia:
[https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/parent-
fact-...](https://www.education.tas.gov.au/parents-carers/parent-fact-
sheets/travelling-to-school/)

From the Department of Education in Tasmania:

> If your child’s school is not within walking distance, a bus service may be
> available. This may be free or it may be a fare-charging service. Contact
> your school to find out about the bus services available for your area.

And apparently even in New South Wales, the government coverage is not "100%"
as you claim:
[https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/schoolDriveSubsidy#/s...](https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/schoolDriveSubsidy#/schoolDriveSubsidy)

> The School Drive Subsidy is administered by Transport for NSW and is
> available to NSW residents in areas where there is no public transport, to
> drive an eligible student all or part of the way to school. _The subsidy is
> only intended to partly offset the cost of using a private vehicle to drive
> the eligible student and is not intended to cover all costs._

The subsidy is about $0.70 per km, which defrays the cost of travel, but
certainly won't pay for a private vehicle for people who don't already have
one.

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jacquesm
School transportation is a solved problem: good cycling infrastructure and
enough schools.

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brandonmenc
I have to believe that everyone who brings up "bicycles" as a transportation
solution has never lived where there is significant snowfall.

My hometown got nearly 200 inches of snow in 2018 - cycling is basically
impossible for at least half of the year, even for the fittest, youngest, best
equipped, and most skilled riders.

