AH, ANOTHER semester begins. And, like any new semester, there are some exciting changes in store for students. No, I'm not talking about more construction (as if there's anything left to renovate). I'm not talking about our potentially good football season. I'm talking about... wait for it... changes to UTS and Escort Services! (Insert excited gasps and applause here.)
These changes have been a long time coming, and the Department of Transportation and the University Police Department have worked out a successful plan to ensure the availability of safe transportation for students.
Beginning today, the University Transit Service will increase routine service during the evening and night, from 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Previously, the time between buses on the Blue and Orange routes during these hours was 20 minutes. This year, buses will be running every 12 minutes from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Monday-Friday, and from 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
In an effort to remind students of its safety-related mission, Escort will be changing its name to SafeRide in the fall. It will not be available during the early evening, but, according to the Housing Division website, "Escort will concentrate their efforts in the midnight to 6 a.m. time frame."
This new plan will work out nicely. As we all know (except maybe for you incoming first years -- don't worry, you'll learn soon enough), Standard Party Time begins roughly around 10 to 10:30 at night. This means that anywhere from 9 to midnight, mass groups of students are making their way over to Rugby Road, the Corner or anywhere their nighttime adventures take them. The increased bus service during this time will accommodate the majority of these party goers, who up until now had been calling Escort Service to take them and their 15 closest friends to a frat party because they didn't want to wait 20 minutes for the next bus.
Likewise, in concentrating its efforts later in the night, the Escort Service is more likely to be used as a safety precaution and not a routine transportation option. There isn't the same mass migration of students returning home as there is going out in the evening. Students who call Escort later in the night are usually the ones who don't want to walk home alone at night, or the ones who are -- ahem -- unable to walk or drive. In short, those who call Escort during this time are genuinely in need of a safe ride home.
Also, it's important to point out that Escort is not meant for or used solely by party goers. University students are often up late, at rehearsals, at the library, even at the Cavalier Daily office (or so I've heard). Any student out late at night should consider Escort as a safe option, rather than walking home alone.
These new systems are a smart move on the part of UTS and Escort. Buses will be used for routine transportation, and Escort will be a safety-related option. If students cooperate, there will be an adequate availability of late-night transportation.
That being said, in order for the new system to be successful, students should remember why the Escort service was created in the first place. Escort is not your limousine. It is to be used as a safe alternative. Hence the name SafeRide. These changes will only work if everyone respects that.
In addition, both UTS and Escort need to ensure that these changes are successfully implemented. The new bus schedule must be adhered to, and Escort, especially, must continue to be an option late at night. Both parents and students have been assured that the University is a safe place, and the University is responsible for keeping good transportation options available.
These changes to the transportation options are necessary and smart, and will be successful as long as students always have the option of a safe, available ride. So go out, have fun and be safe. And remember to thank your driver.
(Kristin Brown is a Cavalier Daily. columnist She can be reached at kbrown@cavalierdaily.com.)
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