Get home safe with Fleet

“I was on the tram and a man repeatedly kept asking to use my phone. I wouldn’t let him and tried to ignore him, and I got off the tram and he got off at the same stop and followed me home. I had to run away and get into my door to get away from him. ” 

- Beth, Sheffield

Getting around after dark is not safe

Whether walking, getting a taxi or public transport, harassment and assault has reached epidemic levels, as reflected in the recent national emergency declared on violence against women and girls.

This affects every single one of us in some way - pretty much every woman we know and many men have had a bad experience and far too many people’s lives have beens severely affected by this. We’ve had enough!

Shocking levels of assault by taxi drivers

Taxis seem like an obvious solution, but 59% of men and women feel unsafe travelling by taxi and although most taxi drivers are great, our Freedom of Information requests revealed troubling numbers of alleged rapes and sexual assaults, as well as similar numbers of physical assaults. 

In addition, private hire costs are prohibitive for commuters or people on lower incomes.

“Coming home from a night out, for example, it's impossible sometimes to get an Uber, or it might be that the prices shoot up, even then you could be waiting like 20, 30 minutes for an Uber." 

- Fleet Interviewee May 2024

Women are living in fear

Our research showed that a staggering 10% of women don’t go out at all after 9pm due to safety concerns and/or previous traumatic experiences. That’s not ok. 

On top of that, we found that very high percentages of people have avoided evening activities at times due to safety concerns (see chart below):

Restricted Freedom

Women’s lives in particular are being severely limited by the very tangible threat of assault, and this affects everyone.

No one wants themselves or loved ones to fall victim to bad experiences at night, or worse, not make it home, but you, your children, partners, friends and colleagues should not have to be essentially imprisoned at home because society can’t keep them safe. 

The impact is far-reaching: diminishing mental health, physical effects of constant stress, lost career progression (missing out on networking and training) and job opportunities, missing out on important events and social connections and more broadly, the effect on business and the economy. That’s why we’ve designed the first shared transport service where safety underpins the whole journey.

Combatting sexual violence in night-time travel

Fleet is making night-time travel safe for everyone. We carried out extensive research (funded by a prestigious InnovateUK grant) and have co-designed a service with potential service users. We’ve thought through the safety aspect from beginning to end of a journey, from waiting inside, being taken from door-to-door, CCTV, live tracking, and a discrete safety alert, to identification and accountability of travellers, and crucially, drivers highly trained in safeguarding and conflict management, all the while encouraging collective responsibility. We simply won’t tolerate bad behaviour.

‘When I heard about what Fleet wanted to do I just felt a huge sense of relief, like the constant background worry that I carry around with me all the time, especially when the nights are long, just lifted’

- Workshop participant, April 2024

How it works

Travelling with Fleet will be easy - download the app, register, book a journey and we’ll take care of the rest. 

People can wait safely inside with friends, then the driver will check you onto the bus, drive you to your door, efficiently doing pick-ups and drop-offs on the way and making sure everyone is ok.

Everyone who uses the service is identifiable and accountable, including the driver. Our system is designed to stamp out bad behaviour and drivers will be trained to spot and resolve potential problems. 

Where we're heading

Our first step is to run a pilot from Forge nightclub, then build out the service with more buses and expand out throughout the city. Once we’re established, we will take Fleet to other cities around the UK.

We need your support, big or small, it will all help. £500 will train a driver, £750 will get the app going for a month, £2000 will run our pilot for a weekend

You will be part of changing society for the better!

What will the crowdfunder enable Fleet to achieve? 

40K will kickstart our service, running a minibus two nights a week for two months - helping up to 210 people be safe per week.

80k will enable us to do the same with 2 minibuses - helping 420 people be safe per week.

300K will launch our service four nights a week with three buses - helping 1260 people be safe per week. 

Of course we don't want to stop there, we want to expand our service in Sheffield and then the UK, helping 100s of thousands of people be safe each week.

We are also looking at other sources to get to the 300k.

Support us now, keep your loved ones safe!

#FeelSafeWithFleet