Transport: Kid Taxi

Many parents (well, this one at least) seem to spend half of their lives ferrying their kids to clubs, activities, shops, friends' houses and so on. In families without easy access to a car during the week, kids miss out on these activities.

This section discusses:

Existing Provision

What

Children of school age don't play with their next door neighbour in the street or in the woods like they used to. Their friends will be dotted around the local area. They will want to get to clubs and societies, events and shops all over the place. The age at which parents feel comfortable for their children to travel alone (assuming there is a way for them to do so) has risen over the years due to concerns about their safety from paedophiles and from traffic.

How

If a parent with a car is available, this is the natural choice for most. Gone are the days when most kids would walk or cycle to their friends' houses nearby. Because many are driven to school and hence don't travel on school buses, their best friends are not those on the same bus route who they spend an hour a day with as I used to. Instead they are scattered throughout the school's catchment area.

Where cycling or taking a bus is an option, we won't let our younger kids do so until they are teenagers.

Volume and Frequency

The more kids, the more trips. The more money you throw at them, the more trips they need. With three myself, there are probably at least a dozen car journeys a week over and above school runs. As they get older, you'd think the need for this would decrease but actually as you become an embarrassment to them, what would have been one trip with a five year old and a leisurely coffee waiting for them turns into two trips as you are “encouraged” to leave them alone and come back later.

Financial Model

Few bother to calculate the true cost of these trips. In addition to petrol and wear and tear on the car, the significant drain on a parent's time can actually be the most important consideration.

Providers

These are almost exclusively the parents.

Trends

Increasing travel costs are unlikely to cut much ice with a demanding ten year old. Hence it looks like we must expect to bear more costs and continue to spend a significant proportion of our lives ferrying kids around.

With Localnet

What

Children above a certain age - let's say “ten” for sake of argument - can travel within the localnet delivery area.

How

As children will already have a bus pass that identifies them to the localnet system, it is easy to track them on and off vans. The drivers of these vans would be one of a small team of permanent staff responsible for that local delivery round and would be vetted for work with children. The LocalHub staff would call ahead to the receiving parent advising them when the child will be dropped off and confirming that they are in and willing to take charge of the child on arrival. Under the driver's supervision, the child will be escorted to the door of their destination and handed into the care of their friend's parents.

To avoid kids having to sit through hours of deliveries between their pickup and drop-off, routes where children have been pre-booked will deliberately skip some or all of the properties on the appropriate section of the route and/or modify their route to give a compromise between delivery efficiency and travel time for the child.

Volume and Frequency

This service is obviously going to be in demand on summer evenings, at weekends and during school holidays.

Financial Model

To encourage families to at least try this service, one round trip per week per child should be free.

Families with only one car should be entitled to more free trips - and those without a car should have unlimited local transport for their children.

Providers

This service is entirely within the scope of the localnet provider's remit.

Evolution

The usefulness of this service to kids will vary widely at first. Some may not know anyone else on the same delivery run as themselves. However, the availability of easy transport on that route will actually encourage them to get to know their near neighbours better. This, in turn, will bring the parents together and result in communities where people know more of their close neighbours.

 

Comparison

The table below assesses the impact of localnet on this service on a scale of -5 to +5 (details here)

  Existing services As part of localnet Score
Scope Parents drive - if they own a car and can drive. Any child above a threshold age can travel to nearby friends. +4
Frequency More than once per week, per child. Encourages more but shorter journeys. Not as flexible as being picked up by a parent. 0
Security Good where parent accompanies. Poor when child is allowed to use normal public transport alone for first time. Good and consistent with known, vetted staff and tracking of kids on and off vehicles visible to parent from home. +3
Convenience Not as easy as driving them but much easier than when no car available. Consistent, predictable, bookable. +3
Cost Largely hidden but includes petrol, wear and tear on car. Some trips included in basic service. More if no car owned. +2
Quality Driving them is quick and direct. Somewhat slower and probably less direct - but you don't have to go with them! -2
Carbon Footprint Driving them is very inefficient. Electric vehicle shared with other passengers and goods. +2
Time Uses more of the parent's time. Uses a little more of the child's time but (much) less of the parent's. +2
Resources Used Another reason for keeping a second car. Another reason not to have second car. +1
Reuse & Recycling Wears out the car quicker. Makes the car last longer. +1
Landfill Waste Wears out the car quicker. Makes the car last longer. +1
Other Differentiators Poorer families cannot engage in many activities at all. Open to all. Encourages friendships at most local level. +2

Services