How to Organize Carpooling Using Airtable

Carpools are always so tough to organize, especially for working parents! Our eldest daughter has practice at least two days per week and performances every weekend. It's no small feat to make sure that she (and the rest of her team) all show up to all these events on time. Half the time, it feels like last minute texts get sent between the parents and we make last minute decisions to get the kids rides back and forth. So naturally, I thought we needed an Airtable database.

In this video I show how to structure the basic architecture for creating a carpool database. I first identify my tables (datasets) to be Events, Schedule, Drivers, Kids, and Carpool. Each of these is a layer in the architecture and allows for a system that 'alerts' you if a kid is unaccounted for.

I also go into the Maps Block (a part of the 'pro' Airtable plan). This block makes it really easy to visualize the location of these events using their coordinates.

Lastly, I review ways that I'd recommend including some automation for this. Imagine getting an automated text one hour before your scheduled carpool that includes the names of the kids you're picking up. Alternatively, if you weren't assigned a carpool, you could receive a text telling you which parent would be dropping your child off. Pretty slick, right?

As always if you see room for improvement let me know!