HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Hawaii State Department of Education has collaborated with GoKid, the leading school carpooling company, to launch a new carpooling program for families across 14 different schools to use.
Families from Oahu’s Mililani Complex and Maui’s Kekaulike Complex were invited between July 27 and 30 to join the pilot program.
The mission is to connect families and parents who live nearby to make carpool plans through GoKid’s web and mobile apps.
The inspiration for this idea came from the need to reduce the impacts of recent school bus driver shortages, bus route limitations and back-to-school traffic.
“With attendance being a top priority for our schools, this pilot gives families a simple, flexible way to work together on getting students to school,” Superintendent Keith Hayashi said. “By partnering with GoKid, we’re supporting families without access to bus service and helping ease traffic and congestion around our campuses.”
HIDOE says they recognize parents’ commitment to make sure their children arrive to school on time and safely every day. This solution aims to meet those same standards and assures parents a safe transportation alternative.
“We’re impressed with the leadership at HIDOE for their vision to bring innovative solutions like ours to families,” said Stefanie Lemcke, GoKid founder and CEO. “We’ve seen how communities thrive when families are empowered to work together on school transportation, and we’re excited to help families in Hawaii reclaim time while building stronger connections.”
Gokid is already being used to provide transportation across 10 states and Canada.
Carpooling is also great for the environment because it can cut back on CO2 emissions produced from cars, aligning with Hawaii’s sustainability goals.
Participating schools will provide more information on the program to families.