Spot On Pet Ride Sharing Service
Ten years ago, when our second Weimaraner Bodhi came down with a debilitating bone disease, I would have done anything to have access to a reliable, inexpensive car service we could have used to get him back and forth from our apartment to the various veterinarians’ offices we took him to. We ended up enrolling in Zip Car because it was so much trouble getting cabs and too expensive to keep calling car services.
If only SpotOn.Pet had existed back then!
SpotOn.Pet is a New York-based ride sharing service that debuted a few years back; since then, they have fine-tuned their offerings and are setting their sights on cities throughout the United States.
SpotOn.Pet’s founder Aparna Srinivasan got the idea for a ride sharing company catering to pets and their owners when she lived in Los Angeles. She had a car, but transporting her two large dogs in her personal vehicle wasn’t always the best solution. There were times, like going to the airport, that it made more sense to hail a taxi or engage a car service.
But it wasn’t alway easy to find a driver willing to transport more than 130 pounds of pooch!
It dawned on her that maybe a ride sharing service for pet owners might be a sound business proposition.
Aparna did EXTENSIVE market research! She interviewed literally thousands of people about their needs. Her co-founder actually worked as an Uber driver to better understand the industry. And Aparna herself lead a pilot program, for which she was a driver, logging hundreds of trips. The rides were free, she didn’t have a livery license, but riders loved the service so much they donated money! It was then that she was certain she was on to something.
Aparna and her dogs moved to New York City, which she’d determined was ripe for this kind of service, and launched the company in 2018.
Fast forward two years and the COVID pandemic hit.
You’d think that would have dealt SpotOn.Pets a serious body blow. But it turns out the lockdown was the perfect time to fine tune a service that Aparna had been testing: travel for pets alone, without their owners.
It was the perfect way to perfect travel for pets by themselves. Owners could deliver their pets to the drivers. The drivers could deliver them to their destination, usually a vet. Someone at the destination would collect the animal.
Contactless travel for your pet!
This is now one of their cornerstone offerings, and they’re rolling it out in areas near NYC.
Right now SpotOn.Pet offers service throughout the five boroughs of New York City and surrounding areas, including travel to all major airports. Passengers must schedule a trip a minimum of two hours before pick-up time. Round trips are available.
To use the service, download the app at Google Play or on the Apple App Store.
The user experience is super intuitive and easy.
Aparna says the key to SpotOn.Pet’s success is their drivers. They are super pet-friendly professionals, so make sure you tip your driver. They get 100% of their tips.
And if you’re interested in becoming a driver, click here.
