How and Why SKOOT, the lift sharing app for friends was born.
Public transport is great when you live in big cities with loads of bus routes and train lines, in comparison to rural areas, where it can be an absolute nightmare. This being said, even somewhere like the UK where the public transport system is fairly advanced, you can generally guarantee around 2 changeovers or a 45-minute bus journey to do a distance of probably around 4–5 miles. Not only did it take too long to get about, but the cost for train and bus tickets is a joke and after the pandemic, you would think they are likely to go up! On a bus journey, you’re classed as an adult from the age of 16. This is a huge expense as I used to get the bus to school every morning with a two-way ticket costing me £6.60. Now that might not sound like much, but when travelling there 5 days a week and not having a job my parents were having to help me pay £33 extra a week just to get me to school.
The day I passed my test was the best day of my life! It allowed me so much more freedom to get where I wanted to go without feeling like a burden to everyone else around me. However, having a car does come at a huge cost with having to get petrol every week, wear and tear on the car, as well as insurance, MOT, the list is endless, and don’t even talk to me about servicing!
When I first started giving lifts, I would put the money I made towards any extra expenses the car had. Little did I know when giving lifts is actually such a hassle! I would pick friends of friends up and they’d turn around and say can I transfer it to you and I’d just say yes, they would then get out and I would be chasing payments for the next 3 days. Not only was this an issue, but also if I got pulled over by the police and said I was giving a lift if they found I was charging over 45p per mile I would be invalidating my insurance and could look to pay up to a £2500 fine and potentially even lose my licence as there would be 6 penalty points too. This I did not fancy!
When coming to pick up my friends, and they had had one too many drinks, the stress of actually finding where they were was a nightmare, you’d be driving around like a headless chicken trying to figure out their exact location! This then drained more petrol and placed wear and tear on my car. By the end of it, I found I wasn’t really covering that much of my costs at all.
This was how I realised there is a massive need for a mobility app like SKOOT. SKOOT calculates the costs for you so you’re not overcharging and hence staying within the law. It also works on the basis of not only knowing where you are located but also navigating to the actual location of the handset, plus it then navigates to where you’re dropping someone off. Your costs are also covered to get you back home.
The great thing about SKOOT is that it takes away the need to have those awkward conversations with friends asking for your petrol money from the day/night before. Prior to the lift being requested there is a check made on the friend’s payment card so they cannot request a ride from you with no money in their wallet! Although SKOOT does charges your friends a contribution fee, SKOOT has worked out that we are still 3X cheaper than other lift-sharing platforms or taking a taxi.
Before you can become a driver on the SKOOT app there is a quick check on your car to make sure you have a valid MOT and Tax. SKOOT is working on even checking if there is insurance in place too to make sure all passengers are safe. With this knowledge SKOOT will also remind you when your MOT is due about a month before and are working on getting you cheap deals to renew it!
SKOOT delivers safe and secure rides with no “stranger danger” and are also looking to bring new features to allow friends of friends to give lifts and pick you up so you can even make new friends on SKOOT too! SKOOTin’ and making new connections is a win-win. The best part about SKOOT is that on top of all this, we plant a tree for every 3 rides done so not only do you get to run affordable errands and lifts with friends, you are also doing it carbon negatively!
