Articles from HopSkipDrive

HopSkipDrive, a technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, access, and care, today announced it has achieved Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 Type II compliance following an independent third-party audit. HopSkipDrive is the first and only company in the student transportation industry to receive this important security attestation report.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, access, and care, announced its expansion into Virginia Beach, in partnership with Chesapeake Public Schools, to bring students across the region reliable transportation services.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, today announced four new safety initiatives designed to further enhance the company’s commitment to safe, reliable student transportation.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, today announced that Co-founder and CEO Joanna McFarland has been named to Inc.’s prestigious 2025 Female Founders 500 List. The annual list honors 500 female entrepreneurs who are challenging the status quo to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. These resilient entrepreneurs expressed grit and drive to collectively attract approximately $9 billion in 2024 revenue and $10.6 billion in funding.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, today released its sixth annual Safety Report, highlighting comprehensive safety metrics and technological innovations in student transportation. The report details that in 2024, 99.697% of rides were completed without a safety concern of any kind - representing an improved safety rate even as ride volume grew to serve over 1,000 school districts, government agencies, and nonprofits and completing more than 1.7 million safe rides across 34 million miles.

HopSkipDrive today announced that it is facilitating transportation for students in wheelchair-accessible vehicles in 10 metros around the country, significantly expanding the company’s offerings for school districts and students and raising the bar on transportation for students with disabilities.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company solving complex transportation challenges with safety, equity, and care, will launch in Kansas City, providing local schools and school districts with access to a network of highly vetted local caregivers called CareDrivers, to supplement yellow school buses and existing student transportation options.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, today announced the addition of Sandra Dainora Petersen as Senior Vice President of Product. A seasoned product executive with extensive marketplace experience, Petersen will oversee HopSkipDrive’s Product and User Experience teams, and spearhead the company’s product strategy and development as it continues to raise the bar and set new industry standards in student transportation technology.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company that solves complex school transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, today announced its expansion into the Atlanta region.

To help children in foster care in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties remain in their current school and connected to after-school activities, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) is partnering with HopSkipDrive to help youth access reliable, safe transportation.

To address schools’ current operational and funding challenges, technology company HopSkipDrive announced new initiatives and options for supplemental transportation designed to ensure students reliably and consistently attend school on time.

The national school bus driver shortage, which in the last few years has led to the cancellation of school bus services across the country and other significant barriers to equitable transportation shows no sign of abating ahead of the upcoming school year, and parents are frustrated about having to fill the void.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company that solves complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, today announced a partnership with Pittsburgh Public Schools, growing the supplemental transportation company’s footprint and offering safe and reliable rides for students this upcoming academic year.

HopSkipDrive today announced innovative new offerings and products designed to meet school districts’ most complex transportation needs for the upcoming school year.

HopSkipDrive, a leading technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, today announced three new additions to its executive team. Jen Brandenburger joins as Senior Vice President of Safety, Richa Mehta as Vice President of Finance and Strategy, and Lacey Plache as Vice President of Data Science and Analytics. These new executives strengthen the leadership team at HopSkipDrive, bringing proven and seasoned expertise from world-class organizations and industry leaders including Airbnb, TikTok, Lyft, Age of Learning, Deloitte, and more.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company partnering with school districts across the country to solve complex transportation challenges, today announced it is expanding to five new cities this Fall, partnering with dozens of new clients in Bakersfield, California; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Richmond, Virginia; and Tucson, Arizona. This growth in geographic reach comes as the company caps a 2023-2024 school year with significant growth:

HopSkipDrive today announced three new industry-leading safety features to enhance rapid support, enable access to in-vehicle ride recording, and further communicate with parents and caregivers, advancing HopSkipDrive’s unparalleled school transportation safety and transparency track record. These newest features build on HopSkipDrive’s proprietary safety technology and approach, including the company’s most recent announcement of the industry’s first, and only, real-time, proactive safety solution, Proactive Ride Intervention, which leverages the company’s innovative Safe Ride Support team and technology.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company that solves complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity and care, commends the White House for the new actions and resources it announced at its Every Day Counts Summit to curb chronic absenteeism.

HopSkipDrive, a technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity and care, today announced the new name for its flagship product, RouteWise AI™. This supplemental tool is an award-winning AI-powered transportation optimization solution providing transformative results for school districts.

HopSkipDrive announced today additional accuracy and functionality features for its care-centered transportation marketplace, allowing school district users to pinpoint exact pickup and dropoff locations to minimize confusion in the car line and to pause a ride when building plans.

Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) announced in a joint presentation with HopSkipDrive that the district has seen a reduction in chronic absenteeism, dropping 14 percentage points from the 2021–2022 school year to the current 2023–2024 school year due in part to the district’s support for vulnerable students and the effectiveness of the multimodal transportation approach DPSCD has adopted.

HopSkipDrive reported today that in the eight months since launching its product SmartPooling, school districts saved 160,000 pounds of CO2 as a result of reducing single occupancy rides and matching students together for transportation. School districts using this feature were able to more efficiently leverage supplemental school transportation options to smartly operate their systems. These districts then had more avenues to utilize their buses effectively and on dense routes, ultimately reducing inefficient supplemental rides by 280,000 miles.

Ten highly qualified experts from across various organizations devoted to transportation, child welfare, road safety, community planning, education, and technology have joined together to examine the challenges and opportunities in expanding safe, equitable transportation policies for the 54 million students enrolled in US schools.

HopSkipDrive, the leading technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, today released its fifth annual Safety Report. Of the more than 1.2 million safe rides driven by CareDrivers across more than 25 million miles, 99.653 percent of the rides ended without a safety incident of any kind. This year’s Safety Report outlines data on rides completed on the HopSkipDrive platform in 2023, through partnerships with more than 600 school districts, government agencies, and nonprofits across 14 states and Washington D.C.

HopSkipDrive, the leading technology company solving complex transportation challenges where there is a heightened need for safety, equity, and care, ended the year with lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and better electric vehicle mileage in California than the state’s 2023 targets, as set forth under California's Clean Miles Standard.

HopSkipDrive, the leader in innovative, supplemental school transportation solutions for families, school districts and government agencies, today released its State of School Transportation 2023 report.

HopSkipDrive, the leader in innovative, supplemental school transportation, today announced a series of new products and services built to meet the needs of school districts and their students. These new solutions enable districts to scale their transportation services and solve challenges while serving students even better.

HopSkipDrive, the leader in innovative, supplemental school transportation solutions for families, school districts and government agencies, announced today that it will be launching in Nashville, Tennessee this school year, partnering with Metro Nashville Public Schools and others in the area to expand transportation options for students.

HopSkipDrive, the leader in innovative, supplemental school transportation solutions for families, school districts and government agencies, announced today that it will be launching in Indianapolis, Indiana this Fall, partnering with Franklin Township Community School Corporation, Tindley Accelerated Schools, Irvington Community Schools, Brownsburg Community School Corporation, and Southeast Neighborhood School of Excellence (SENSE) to expand transportation options for students.

HopSkipDrive, the innovative, safe school transportation solution, today released its second annual State of School Transportation Report. This report is based on data from a wide-ranging sample of survey respondents who hold a variety of school transportation and administration roles, including directors of transportation, superintendents, principals and other school transportation staff. This year’s report indicates that school bus driver shortages and lingering issues related to COVID-19 continue to have major operational and budgetary impacts on the transportation operations at schools and districts across the country.