Columbia College Today

Topher McGibbon ’96 with one of his maroon Kid Car NY minivans near his Morningside Heights home.

The story of Topher McGibbon ’96’s business began, as so many do, with a few friends gathered at a café during a busy lunch hour. The Upper West Side restaurant was packed with toddlers, and the convened circle of friends — among them three doctors — started to wonder how so many Manhattan-born babies managed to make it home safely from the hospital in the snarl of New York City traffic.

That afternoon’s conversation was enough to prompt McGibbon to toy with the idea of a safer, more reliable taxi service for infants, a venture he christened Kid Car NY. All too quickly, however, he realized that the idea wasn’t quite financially viable. Catering to newborns alone wouldn’t provide a steady customer base, and it seemed that there wasn’t enough demand for an expanded car service that also accommodated older children.

But the idea had already started to form, and for the next four years, McGibbon frequently revisited that initial conversation. Kid Car hovered on the edge of his consciousness, just waiting for an opportunity to take shape.

McGibbon, who majored in history at the College and was a member of the swimming team, worked for Morgan Stanley for two years and then attended the University of Michigan’s School of Business, graduating in 2006.

During his time at Michigan, McGibbon couldn’t stop thinking about Kid Car. Meanwhile, in March 2005, New York State passed a law requiring that children under 7 be restrained in child safety seats. The new legislation, however, only encompassed private vehicles, giving an exemption to taxis and private car services.

“That exemption means that while parents are not going to get tickets if they and their children are in a crash while riding in a taxi or black car, they will get a visit from Child Protective Services for letting their child ride in a car without a safety seat when they should have known better,” McGibbon says. Car-less families living in Manhattan were left with few safe options for transporting their young children.

Michael Griffin (far right) and his wife, Anne, used Kid Car NY to bring their triplets (from left in stroller, Lucas, Nicholas and Bennett) home from the hospital.

PHOTOS: DANIELLA ZALCMAN ’09

The new law was McGibbon’s opening. He began to stop families with young children on the street in an effort to gauge public interest and find out if the market had changed. “I walked the streets of New York with a clipboard in my hand,” McGibbon says. “And if you have ever seen how people with clipboards are treated in the city — well, I think lepers do better. But as soon as I mentioned safety and automobiles, people stopped what they were doing to sit down and talk to me. They really cared, and that’s when I knew I had something.”

McGibbon expanded his initial business model to include toddlers and elementary school-aged children — a significantly larger target customer base — and on March 29, 2007, Kid Car picked up its first customer. In addition to a $300 annual membership fee, customers pay a flat rate (no tipping permitted) of $25 per trip to travel anywhere in Manhattan. Most importantly, McGibbon’s cars are all equipped with the regulation child safety seats that taxis lack. Currently, the company has more than 100 members and McGibbon is planning to expand his fleet of distinctive maroon minivans to keep up with his growing client list.

“I have used the service twice and definitely expect to in the future for doctor’s appointments, play dates and so forth, as there really is no other safe, reliable and relatively inexpensive way to get the kids about town,” says Michael Griffin, whose triplets were brought home from the hospital by Kid Car in May. “I think that Topher is on to something that could be really big. He has done his homework, is continually refining his business model, and most of all, understands that he is carrying precious cargo.” Griffin is the University’s senior associate director of alumni relations.

McGibbon is careful to emphasize the importance of familiarity and hospitality at Kid Car. “The great thing about this business is that there’s continuity,” he says. “The drivers see the same customers over and over again. In New York City, that’s very different from the random cabdrivers whose placard you may not be able to read from the back seat — and God knows you’re never going to see that person again.

“The really successful businesses look at the lifetime value of a customer,” McGibbon adds. “We view our customers as an opportunity to develop a lifetime relationship. We brought that newborn home from the hospital, we take that kid to school and we will continue to provide service until that kid is 15, 16 years of age.”

Above all, McGibbon makes sure never to lose sight of the company’s founding principle: child safety.

“I really do see Kid Car having a profound impact on increasing the safety of children living in New York City,” he says, “and I hope we can eventually improve safety nationwide. In the end, that’s what matters most.”

Daniella Zalcman ’09 is majoring in architecture and comparative literature. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times and Wired Magazine.

ALUMNI UPDATES

Topher McGibbon ’96 Launches Kid Car NY