Last night Student Council’s Safety & Wellness Committee formally announced the creation of the Free Ride program, which provides students with free taxi cab service seven days of the week between midnight and 4 a.m. and began at midnight today.
“Free Ride really goes to the core of our mission this year of giving students ownership of their own safety,” Council President Matt Schrimper said. “Safe Ride and late-night busing serve their function and they do a fine job but they fall short in some areas, and we think that Free Ride could really complement them well.”
Schrimper noted that while late-night busing drops students off at bus stops, students often still have to walk a distance to get home. Free Ride will be able to let students off at their front doors. He also noted that because Safe Ride serves so many students, it can be slow to respond sometimes.
The Free Ride program is meant to work in conjunction with the existing Safe Ride, late-night bus service and Yellow Cab service provided through the Office of the Dean of Students, said Katie Peabody, chair of the Safety & Wellness Committee.
“This program is designed to deal with some of the overflow from Safe Ride,” Peabody said. “Students are encouraged to learn about the systems that already exist, and use late-bus system and Safe Ride late at night and hopefully, Free Ride will complement all of the programs that already exist.”
To use the Free Ride program students can call or hail a cab between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m. and are required to show their University ID card to use the program. Students then request a “Student Council Free Ride” from the taxi driver, and Yellow Cab will bill the cost to Student Council, Peabody said.
“The program is really designed for students who feel unsafe walking home at night,” Peabody said.
Council has organized a system where it will receive an invoice for every student who uses the Free Ride program, and Council will then send each student a survey via e-mail to evaluate the effectiveness of the system, Peabody said.
“This is completely a pilot program,” Peabody noted. “For now we’re just going to see how it goes.”
The funding for this project is coming from Council, as well as donations from Inter-Fraternity Council, Inter-Sorority Council and outside donations from the Charlottesville community, Peabody said.
Many student responses to the Free Ride program have been positive. Some students, however, expressed concern about Council’s ability to sustain funding for the project.
“I think it’s great that they’re doing this but I just wonder if this can survive right now with the budget crunch,” third-year College student Whitney Hawkins said. “I don’t know if they would really have the money to really support this in the long-term but I think it’s a really great idea.”
Third-year College student Meaghan Malloy agreed.
“I think it’s a good idea but I think there are logistical issues in regards to funding that could become a problem,” Malloy said. “I mean if it’s all free, that money has to come from somewhere. It could become problematic in the future, but I think it’s a good thing that Student Council is trying to look out for its students in making sure that they have many safe options to take so you don’t have to worry about walking home by yourself.”
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