Providing a Safer Ride for the Vulnerable

Requesting a ride has become one of the easiest things to do, you pull out your phone and with a touch of a button a driver has been sent to your location. But requesting a safer ride has become scarcer.

If you live with a disability and use a wheelchair to get around, you are more likely to get your rides cancelled on the spot or have the other problem of nobody turning up due to the lack of accessible vans. This will result in you missing your meetings, being late to important life events and having to scramble around trying to find other ways to get to your destination leaving you in a vulnerable and open space to get attacked. Or if you are a female traveling alone on any transport platform at any time of day whether it be a bus, train or rideshare, you are more vulnerable to getting attacked and or sexually assaulted by an individual/s or a male driver of that company which will leave you completely on edge and with mental scars that will take months, sometimes years to heal.

You would think that since we live in an advanced society with a bunch of different technology that we would already have more accessible vehicles on the road as well as better safety measures for all parties but sadly we are wrong. With accessible seating always being taken up on both trains and busses to wheelchair users constantly being turned down rides and being taken advantage of as well as high tech cameras being magically ''broken'' when a female or individual lodges a complaint shows how bad it really is. For years we have kept silent, but the silence stops here. So instead of wasting all our energy into convincing these big corporations that we matter, we have decided to put that same energy into building our own service.

We know with all our combined experiences that by creating a service like this not only will it play a huge impact in a lot of people’s lives by giving them access to certain services they can’t get now, but it will also enable/unlock certain opportunities for a huge amount of individuals. For years we have stressed over the safety of ourselves, a friend or a loved one traveling with a complete stranger. Worrying about something bad happening during the ride or whether we will get to our final destination safely, but with this service we are looking to not only eliminate that gut wrenching feeling but also transform the availability in requesting a safer ride.

Even if we don't reach our goal, we will still use the money raised through here to purchase a different van as well as use a different developer. So Join us in this movement and help us deliver a safer ride alternative, not only for those at risk but also for our whole community. - Nga Mihi Nui