Didi Chuxing officially announced on Thursday that it will introduce a service called “Baobei Jihua”, or “Baby Project”, to help parents who don’t have enough time to drive their kids to and from school. Before the service goes online, Didi will consult the public for further opinions and suggestions.
Didi announced a set of procedures to ensure the safety of children. Drivers selected for this service must have a clean criminal record, have more than 10 years of driving experience, have a car in good condition valued at over RMB 150,000 (USD 23,145), and pass a health exam.
In addition, drivers will receive training for emergencies provided by Didi which includes child psychology and first aid. The cars will be equipped with a range of hygenic products and first-aid kits.
Didi will also equip the cars with Britax car seats for children under the age of 12 and purchase insurance worth RMB 1.2 million for drivers and passengers.
Didi will be the first company in China to provide a service for picking up children. In January, it also introduced a car-hailing service customized for the elderly population. But Didi is not the only company targeting users in specific demographics. UCAR, the premium car-booking service provider who is now a strategic partner of Didi’s big backer Alibaba, introduced a service tailored to pregnant women as well as a party pick-up service earlier this year. Didi’s biggest rival, Uber, announced on Thursday that it will roll out the second phase of its facial recognition system in mid-May to verify driver’s identities in real-time for rideshare safety.
(Top photo from Baidu Images)