PHOENIX — It’s an issue that a lot of working parents have to deal with, getting their kids to and from school, not to mention, practice and summer activities when the kids are out of school.
But now, two Valley brothers have come up with a solution they hope will help parents, while helping the environment at the same time.
Since August 15-year-old Ishan Bagai and his 12-year-old brother Sahil have been busy creating an app that addresses something busy parents often encounter.
“We saw how hard it is for parents to commute to schools and activities,” Ishan told 12News. “They work very far, and my brother goes to school in Scottsdale. I’m in school in Phoenix, so it gets tough for pickup and drop off.”
With the help of funding from their parents and guidance from a developer, they launched the app, Lets Ride Kids, and their website a couple of weeks ago, helping parents coordinate carpools while helping the environment at the same time.
“We wanted to help reduce congestion on the roads and once you get into those school lines,” said Sahil.
“It matches parents who live near each other and going to the same destination to each other, so that they can meet up and take their kids to the same places,” Ishan said. “We’re excited for where it can go.”
It’s easy to use.
“Once you download it, we need verifications… driver's license, identity, phone number, email address…,” said Ishan.
Then you can start publishing and searching for rides. It’s a great way to plan carpools for your kids to get to school, summer camps and activities.
Their mom Roshini says safety is the key component.
“It’s a secure network that we’re creating with our neighborhood,” she said.
Recently they met with the Mayors of Scottsdale and Paradise Valley to get feedback.
“It was really exciting to see that the mayors liked it,” said Sahil.
Their goal is to get the eyes of school administrators across the Valley.
“To be able to implement this for summer schools and plan this out during the summer and use it when the next school year starts,” said Ishan.
On any given day, their parents used to drive between two and three hours to get them to and from school and their extracurricular activities, but carpooling has changed that.
“It’s actually cut down our commutes by half, because half the time we’re commuting with other families we’ve connected with, and it’s been wonderful,” said their dad, Rajesh.
They’re thankful their sons are passionate about working toward a solution to save them a lot of time and gas money.
For these brothers, this is just the beginning.
“I like artificial intelligence and where that’s going, but I also like medicine a lot,” said Ishan.
They have big plans.
“Engineering and medicine,” said Sahil.
But until then, their schoolwork, sports, and extracurricular activities will keep them plenty busy.
As for the app, they’re hoping it eventually goes nationwide.
“I hope it takes off,” their mom Roshini said.
Right now, the Lets Ride Kids app is available to download for free in the Google Play Store and Apple Store.
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