VanGo ‘Uber For Kids’ Gives Safe Rides To Phoenix Youth

PHOENIX, AZ – Marta Jamrozik, VanGo founder and a “Forbes 30 Under 30” awardee, saw a need and is filling it, one city at a time. Her transportation company recently opened a new hub in Phoenix, where an app enables parents to book VanGo’s Uber-like rides for youth ages 8 to 17.

“VanGo’s mission is to support working moms,” Jamrozik explains. “Moms have the challenge of balancing a full-time career while also managing the household, with no support system to lean on. I wanted to build that support system for working moms, starting with children’s transportation.”

Brooklyn based with operations in metro New York City, Houston, and Dallas, VanGo came to Phoenix after the company received many requests for VanGo’s services from Phoenix-area parents. The service aims to help moms by transporting kids to sports, extracurricular, or other activities during the workday, enabling moms to focus on the workplace economics rather than the logistics of family support.

To ensure moms can relax about who’s chauffeuring their kids, VanGo’s driver pool is made up of 85 percent moms and about 15 percent child-care pros with at least three years professional experience, such as nannies, teachers, or babysitters. Additionally, all drivers are required to undergo strict vetting before selection by VanGo, including fingerprinting, extensive background checks, reference checks, motor vehicle record checks and certified-mechanic vehicle inspections. Only about 10 percent of drivers who apply to VanGo are selected.

With its tongue-in-cheek homage to the sound-alike artist, VanGo has started its Phoenix fleet on the smaller side, with strong growth plans ahead.

“We’re starting off with a core group of drivers [in Phoenix], and growing from there," Jamroziksays. "We’ll be adding new drivers on a weekly basis, and will be driven by where we see the most rides being requested. We expect back-to-school season to get crazy, so we’ll be prepared.”

Rides are given privately by family, but carpools with multiple families can also be requested by parents.

To book a ride for their youth, parents can access the VanGo app — compatible with iOS 9.0 or later and the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch — to book recurring or one-off rides for their kids. Rides can be requested up to four weeks in advance or anytime.

“We recommend that parents put in all ride requests 48-plus hours in advance. We know sometimes things happen last minute, so we do our absolute best to help out in the case of a last-minute emergency ride,” Jamrozik says.

Additional VanGo features include a driver profile texted to mom and teen and parental GPS ride tracking once the ride is underway. Parental notifications of driver arrival, pickup and dropoff are also sent. Rides are paid with a credit card after the ride is completed.

The new Phoenix VanGo is already garnering positive feedback.

“As soon as VanGo opened in Phoenix, I used their services to pick my daughter up and drop her at home for me while I wrapped up my workday. My daughter’s driver was so sweet, timely, and made [her] feel really safe. This has been a game changer for me,” Amy James says in a review.

“VanGo is amazing. The drivers are extremely helpful and can be easily reached by text or call anytime, it seems. Virginia Daw gave her time generously to help me sort out the app, and Alyssa Gardner has been so helpful with the random schedule changes. It puts my mind at ease knowing my daughter has safe and reliable transportation to her activities while I’m at work. VanGo is a lifesaver for working parents,” says Siobhan Grogan.

Meanwhile, Phoenix VanGo driver Gardner has a flip-side vantage point: “My experience with VanGo has been extremely positive thus far. For me as a driver, it’s not just about providing safe transportation [on behalf of] the parents, but using those few moments that I have the kids in my car to invest in their lives and make a positive impact on them, however small."