Ride Service HopSkipDrive Heads To The East Coast

WASHINGTON D.C. — HopSkipDrive continues its expansion by launching in Washington D.C. area. The company currently helps families get to and from more than 2,500 schools across Los Angeles, Orange County and the Bay Area and has directly partnered with over 200 private, public and charter schools, and non-profit organizations to provide student transportation rideshare and carpool solutions.

This will be there first foray into the east coast market after raising $7.4 million in strategic funding in 2017, led by Student Transportation Inc., an industry leader in school transportation, safety and fleet services throughout North America. 

Lioness first spoke with HopSkipDrive’s founders a year after their May 2014 launch in Los Angeles. At th time, the trio had just secured a unique insurance specifically designed for driving minors and their operating permit from the California Public Utilities Commission to recruit drivers and riders.

“When we started, we were told that we would never get insurance. And we did. We were told that we wouldn’t be able to get our permit. And we did. We have a strong business plan and a fierce determination to make this service available to help busy families just like ours,” Cofounder Joanna McFarland had said.

She and her cofounders Carolyn Yashari Becher and Janelle McGlothin said the idea for HopSkipDrive was born out of necessity. “As working moms with eight children between us, we were all acutely feeling the pressure of juggling all of our kids’ activities. We knew there had to be a way to take some of the stress out of managing the family calendar. With constantly changing sports seasons and shifts in activities, we wanted to find a way to get our kids where they needed to go that wasn’t dependent on precarious carpool arrangements, calling in favors, or leaving work early,” McGlothlin said.