Cape to get small-market ride-sharing service carGO

While businesses such as Uber and Lyft are popping up all over the country, Cape Girardeau has yet to have a ride-sharing service.

But that’s all about to change, according to Codefi founder James Stapleton. In a rooftop announcement Thursday night at Marquette TechFest, he said Cape Girardeau soon will have carGO, a locally developed small-market ride-sharing platform.

The announcement was made Thursday evening during TechWeek’s penultimate event, Marquette TechFest. Over 250 people were expected at the ticketed event.

Kyle Campbell, a business manager with carGO, gives a demonstration of how customers will request a ride using their car sharing app Thursday during the Marquette TechFest in Cape Girardeau. Glenn Landberg

The festivities included an introduction to the finalists for the most recent 1st50K startup competition and the opportunity to see demonstrations from participants in the civic hackathon and the youth code studio, which took place earlier in TechWeek.

After the first-floor introduction, the celebration made its way up to the rooftop, stopping on the sixth floor for attendees to see the new Codefi offices.

It was during the rooftop presentation Stapleton introduced carGO to the crowd.

Dickie Straus and his daughter Minna look out the window of the sixth floor of the Marquette Tower that will house Codefi on Thursday during the Marquette TechFest in Cape Girardeau.Glenn Landburg

Traverse Ventures, a local venture fund that invests in early-stage tech startups and supports the 1ST50K startup competition developed the company. The app was developed by a team at Codefi.

CarGO works in a similar fashion to the more established ride-sharing programs, but Stapleton said the new app has features that are less feasible for large metro regions.

The program has been in development for several months, though developers have been watching the evolution of the large-market ride sharing platforms for much longer and considering what would be the best way to bring the platform to a town like Cape Girardeau.

Patrons gather on the rooftop of the Marquette Tower on Thursday during the Marquette TechFest in Cape Girardeau.Glenn Landburg

Stapleton said one of the biggest factors considered when developing the program was safety for both the rider and the driver. Each driver, before joining the program, will participate in an hourslong “driver day” to help ensure his or her own safety, as well as the safety of potential riders.

During these driver days, the potential driver will undergo extensive background checks and interviews.

“The bigger platforms that operate in metros just don’t have time to do that,” Stapleton said.

For the safety of the driver, the platform developers are working with law enforcement to bring an off-duty officer to the driver days to talk about security awareness.

“We want drivers to know what kinds of things they should be looking for to keep themselves safe,” Stapleton said.

A unique feature of the carGO app will be the riders’ ability to “favorite” drivers and to be able to schedule rides ahead of time with said drivers.

Stapleton said this will be particularly helpful when children need to be transported from one activity to another. If parents have known and trusted drivers in their ride-sharing arsenal, they can feel secure knowing their children are in good hands.

Stapleton said the developers are also concerned with driver success. The drivers will be independent business owners, using their own cars, and “using the platform to build a small business around the service they will provide to their riders.” Drivers will be provided with customer service training and incentives, like increased fares for “favorited” drivers, to encourage success.

Among the features within the app that make it unique to the market is the ability for a rider to see a photo of the driver and the car when it is en route to the pickup location and the ability to schedule pickups days in advance.

Aggressive recruitment of drivers will begin in August, Stapleton said, and the service should begin running in September, offering 24-hour ride-sharing services within a 25-mile radius of Cape Girardeau. After the Cape Girardeau launch, the developers intend to launch carGO in other similar markets.

Those interested in becoming a driver or a rider can visit www.gocargo.io for more information.

bbrown@semissourian.com

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