1. Set Up Your Profile

1. Click on the Profile tab in the navigation bar.
2. In the Home Location section, enter your street address in the input field (or a location in close proximity if you wish to maintain anonymity). The system will attempt to auto-fill the latitude and longitude.
3. If you are currently at home, you can alternatively click 📍 Use My GPS Location.
4. Click Save Location to store your location. This is required for finding nearby matches.
5. In the Children's Profiles section, click the + Add Child button.
6. Enter a nickname for your child and select their seat requirement (e.g., Booster, Regular).
7. Click Save to add the child's profile. Repeat for all children participating in the carpool.

2. Find Carpool Partners

1. Navigate to the Discover tab.
2. You will see a list of parents and groups near you, sorted by distance, based on the schools your children attend.
3. To join an existing group or connect with a parent, click the Send Request button.
4. A notification will be sent to the group creator or parent.

3. Manage Your Groups

1. Go to your Dashboard.
2. Under Pending Invitations, you will see requests from other parents to join groups or form carpools.
3. Click ✅ Accept to join or ✕ Decline to reject the invitation.
4. If you are the creator of a group, check the ⏳ Group Join Requests card for requests from other parents.
5. Click ✅ Accept to add them to the group or ✕ Reject to deny the request. You can add an optional note in the pop-up modal.
6. Check the My Join Requests card to see the status of join requests you have sent to other groups (Pending, Accepted, or Declined).

4. Generate the Schedule

1. From your Dashboard, click on any active group in the My Carpool Groups list.
2. On the group detail page, ensure all members have set their Travel Time (indicated by a time or a warning icon).
3. If you need to set your travel time, click the 🕐 icon next to your name.
4. Click the 🔄 Generate Next 30 Days button at the top of the schedule section.
5. The algorithm will process the request and display a fair schedule based on everyone's contribution.

5. Adjust Schedule Settings

1. On the group detail page, click the ⚙️ Settings button next to the generate button.
2. To change the rotation style, select one of the cards under Scheduling Type:
   • Flexible: Rotates every parent on every leg and all days.
   • Mixed AM/PM: One parent handles AM, another PM, rotating each week.
   • Full Week: One parent drives both legs for all days in a given week.
3. To mark a parent as unavailable for specific dates, click + Add Unavailability Premium.
4. Select the parent's name and the date range, then save. The scheduler will skip them for those dates.

Application Rules & Fairness

Group & Invitation Rules

• Group Ownership: When you send a carpool request to another parent and they accept, you become the group owner. As owner, you manage membership and group settings.
• Member Management: The group owner has the capability to remove any member from the group. Regular members can only withdraw themselves from the group.
• Visibility: Once a member leaves or is removed from a group, they lose all visibility and access to that group's details and schedule.

Fairness & Scheduling Rules

• Time-Based Scheduling: The schedule is calculated based on the travel time input by each parent (the average time it takes to drive to school). The system works to ensure that the total driving time spent by each parent averages out over time, so no single parent bears an unfair burden.
• Multiple Children Compensation: If a parent has multiple children being taken to the same school, it is considered that the parent has to make a proportional compensation for the time of other parents. For example, a parent with two children will need to handle double the compensation (e.g., two weeks of drive time or two legs instead of one) to maintain fairness.