HopSkipDrive Elevates Student Safety Standards with Launch of Ride Recording: In-App

HopSkipDrive, the leader in safe, fast, and simple supplemental student transportation, today announced the launch of Ride Recording: In-App. This major safety milestone enhances the company’s existing ride recording capabilities, bringing school districts an even more affordable, flexible, and secure recording option than dashcams. This launch joins the new “Track My Ride” web interface designed to increase visibility and transparency. 

The introduction of Ride Recording: In App represents a significant development in HopSkipDrive’s leadership on safety. Available network-wide across all HopSkipDrive markets, 100% of rides this Fall will feature Ride Recording: In-App. This enhances the company’s existing dashcam recording solution by utilizing the native camera capabilities of the driver’s smartphone. To ensure we meet the unique needs of every district partner, HopSkipDrive will continue to offer in-ride dashcams for districts that require them. By integrating directly into the device drivers already use for real-time navigation and ride management, Ride Recording: In App enables HopSkipDrive to consistently improve the software while preventing driver intervention or access. To ensure total security and privacy, drivers have zero access to the files, and all footage is automatically wiped from the device after the ride.

This software-based innovation also allows the company to scale this feature across all districts effortlessly, meeting interior recording requirements for students of all needs without the high expense or time-consuming process of retrofitting an entire fleet with physical hardware. Captured via a direct system that ensures total security and student privacy while extending visibility and transparency to school districts and HopSkipDrive’s Safe Ride Support ® team, which helps provide human eyes on every ride. 

In addition to Ride Recording: In-App, HopSkipDrive is proud to announce Track My Ride, which gives riders access to a link to track their journey in real-time. While many riders use the HopSkipDrive app today to see their driver and ride details, the company recognizes that some students rely on wearables, smartwatches, or school- or government-issued devices that do not allow app installs.

Track My Ride fosters digital equity by providing secure, masked SMS links that open in a standard web view. This removes the friction of app downloads and eliminates the need for manual staff coordination, creating a simpler, less stressful pickup experience for riders, caregivers, and school staff alike. By providing real-time visibility to every student regardless of their device, HopSkipDrive gives riders the peace of mind they need to feel confident on their way to school while ensuring caregivers no longer need to share access to their account credentials and the caregiver-specific permissions within that app.

“At the end of the day, student transportation is built on trust,” said Joanna McFarland, Co-founder and CEO of HopSkipDrive. “By introducing Ride Recording: In-App and Track My Ride, we are reinforcing that trust with even greater real-time visibility and a clear record of every journey. We want our partners to have the most reliable safety features available, along with the administrative tools  that actually make their jobs easier.”