Father Launches Door-To-Door Shuttle Service To Get Kids To School And Back Safely
ELK GROVE (CBS13) — Alejandra Rodriguez worries about her son Isiah walking to and from his Elk Grove School.
"My son's friends actually was a boy that got attacked after school," Rodriguez said.
Her concerns were only validated after a 12-year-old boy was knocked down and robbed of his sneakers last November.
Kevin Lillard has two daughters of his own. He is launching a new shuttle bus service, Prodigy Children's Shuttle Service, specifically for kids.
"We live in a beautiful city, but we know there are people out there that aren't so good," Lillard said. "We'll take kids from home to school, school to home, we'll take them to after-school activities."
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Lillard said a fleet of vans will have drivers who have passed background checks providing the door-to-door service.
"You'll have real live tracking so you can see where the van is turn-by-turn, so that provides parents with a little bit of ease knowing where their kid is at and when their kid is dropped off," Lillard said.
The Elk Grove School District does offer bus service for its 63,000 students, but students must walk to bus stops, which could be more than a mile from their homes.
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Lillard said his service is more convenient, but it does come at a higher cost. Currently, the rates are between $10-15 a day, depending on how many times per day the kid travels with the service. The service could also assist parents with multiple kids, each needing rides to different extra-curricular events.
The district's bus service cost varies depending on how many students per family and if the student is going round trip or just one way. Annual service round trip for one student costs approximately $250.
"I want to be able to help parents. I want to be able to solve this problem that my wife and I and all of our friends have had for so long," Lillard said.
The business will be using Mercedes Sprinter vans. they plan on beginning service on July 1.
You can learn more about the shuttle service on their website.