Ridesharing service now available for kids in Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Car services like Uber and Lyft have changed transportation, but not everyone wants their kids using them. A San Francisco company saw that as an opportunity and their new family-friendly car service has just expanded all over the Bay Area.

Sherry Campos is not Gemma Chiavacci's mother -- and she's not her nanny, but she's spent years looking after other kids.

"We have a requirement of having child care experience in order to be allowed to be a driver for us,"

And a driver is exactly what she is. Far from a babysitter, Campos' job just is to get Gemma from Point A to Point B -- in this case, from school to her mom's office -- while her dad is traveling abroad.

"My only other alternative would have been to hire a short-term nanny and that was not going to be an affordable option," Ingrid Chiavacci, Gemma's mother, said.

Ingrid did some research and found an app called "Shuddle" -- spelled with two Ds.

"We're a transportation service especially for busy families,"

Based in San Francisco, it has just expanded to Marin and San Jose, and now covers most of the Bay Area. Rides are made by appointment and parents get the driver's picture and profile ahead of time.

"When they see me standing outside their school, they're happy to see me, they know who I am," Campos said.

"Through the holidays, Shuddle's charging a flat fee of $10 a ride. After that, they say it'll be similar to a taxi fare. That's a little more expensive than a standard Lyft or Uber ride, but they say you're paying for added peace of mind,"

"We actually will look at the full criminal history of a driver before they're allowed to drive for us," Shuddle community engagement director Rachel Kim said.

And all of the drivers are women. Campos told us she had to go through two interviews -- one on the phone and another in person.

"They asked me a lot of specific questions in regards to children and my background with children and how I felt about certain issues with children," Campos said.

"Yes, it's so much better than riding a school bus," Gemma said.

Gemma knows Shuddle is no substitute for her mom and dad, but it may be the next best thing.

"They just pretend they know me and they're super nice," Gemma said.