i3 - March/April 2016 - 38

Policy

BY BRONWYN FLORES

FA C E S O F I N N O VAT I O N
Andrew Byrnes

General Counsel and Senior Vice President
of Public Policy, Shuddle

CTA members

including Airbnb,
Lyft, Uber and Yelp are disrupting legacy business
models and emerging as leaders in the sharing
economy. Now, ridesharing startup Shuddle joins
the CTA ranks with its innovative service that helps
families book safe and reliable rides to and from
home, school, activities and appointments.
The startup, founded in 2014 in the San
Francisco Bay area, uses an app-based system to
provide an end-to-end experience for parents looking for safe and reliable rides for their children.
Shuddle's platform allows a parent to input photos
and information about the young passenger and
book the ride on the child's behalf. Key safety features include extensive vetting of drivers; a special
"Shuddle Pass" keyword only the child, parent and
drivers know; live-monitoring of the ride by both
Shuddle and the parent; and the option to have a
child walked to the door of the destination.
This year, Shuddle is looking to begin to
expand its innovative platform across the country.
"Our longer term goal is to be nationwide-and
beyond-because the challenges we're addressing are not unique to the Bay Area," says Andrew
Byrnes, general counsel and senior vice president
of public policy, Shuddle. The sharing economy
company aims to solve a common problem
working parents face-trying to safely transport
their children to and from various activities and
appointments, all while juggling their own busy
schedules. As Byrnes explains, "The challenge we're
helping families address is big."
Byrnes, who joined Shuddle after serving as the
chief of staff at the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office from 2013 to 2015, has focused his career
on the intersection of technology, business, law
and policy. In his current role, that intersection
includes teaching policymakers about the benefits
of Shuddle's innovative model.
"We are trying to share with policymakers the
value to society and the economy of allowing
parents to arrange for their child to be driven to
an appointment or activity without their having to
38

MARCH/APRIL 2016

postpone or leave work," says Byrnes. The platform allows parents "to take advantage of more
economic opportunities while their children take
advantage of enrichment opportunities and afterschool activities."
At the same time, Shuddle drivers-car-owners
with caregiving experience-say they value the
flexibility of driving for the ridesharing platform.
The vast majority of Shuddle's drivers have other
jobs and drive for the startup to gain supplemental
income.
Shuddle, like many other startups disrupting
traditional business models, faces the dual challenge of growing a business while trying to avoid
being choked by outdated policies that don't make
sense in today's innovation economy. "We want to
tell our story and work with policymakers to make
sure regulation is smart and does not impede us
from providing safe and reliable rides for busy
families," Byrnes says.

We want to
tell our story
and work with
policymakers
to make sure
regulation is
smart and does
not impede us
from providing
safe and
reliable rides
for busy
families.

DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION COUNCIL

n the same vein, to educate lawmakers and regulators about the benefits
innovative companies bring to the marketplace, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) launched the Disruptive Innovation Council in
November 2015. The Council, which consists of sharing economy companies such as Lyft, Uber and Yelp, provides support and advocacy to help
innovative companies that are disrupting traditional business models and
empowering consumers to navigate the market and policy challenges.

I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

https://shuddle.us/ https://www.airbnb.com/ https://www.lyft.com/ http://www.uber.com http://www.yelp.com https://shuddle.us/ https://www.cta.tech/Membership/Divisions-and-Councils/Disruptive-Innovations.aspx

i3 - March/April 2016

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