Student Council announced last night that the Free Ride program’s trial period will end Sunday at 4 p.m. after serving University student riders since the program’s launch in November.
Through the program, Student Council paid for students to take a taxi cab home between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m. and covered the same area the University’s Safe Ride program covers. This joint endeavor by the Dean of Students’ Office, the Yellow Cab Company, the Inter-Fraternity Council, the Inter-Sorority Council and the University Police Department was created because of concern for the personal safety of University students, said Katie Peabody, Council’s Safety and Wellness committee chair.
“Safe Ride has a lot of overflow, and [Free Ride] was designed for someone going home at night who felt unsafe,” she said, noting that the program was an opportunity for students to take control of their own safety during the trial period.
Student Council President Matt Schrimper said the program’s success will be evaluated after Council analyzes feedback collected from program participants and students.
“It’s something we’re still getting our data back on, but it looks like we’re going to close out the entire trial period with about $13,000 spent on the program all together with a few thousand riders,” Schrimper said.
Additionally, Council hopes to compile survey data by mid-April to establish a better idea of who used the program and whether to continue it.
“I would really like to see what the demographics are like to really evaluate whether or not the program met needs as best we could,” Peabody said.
Second-year College student Danny Navarro said he believed the trial period version of Free Ride suffered from a number of flaws, the most damaging of which was a lack of publicity across Grounds. He said Council did not adequately advertise the program’s terms.
“A friend of mine called a cab from the IRC to Brandon Avenue,” he said. “We thought [the driver] knew we intended to take advantage of the Free Ride program, but we ended up paying. Student Council should place fliers around Grounds so students know what to do to take advantage of the program.”
Yellow Cab office manager Brenda Goodloe said though the program experienced some problems in the beginning, those problems did not hinder the program’s effectiveness.
“The drivers were not used to having charge accounts for students — they were used to people paying in cash,” she said. “It was a little bit of an adjustment, but the program has gone fairly well.”
Goodloe also added that at the start of the program, drivers complained about not receiving tips, but she said the problem was redressed by instituting a 15 percent gratuity as part of an agreement between Council and Yellow Cab.
Peabody, however, said Yellow Cab management initially discouraged tips.
“It was not recommended by Yellow Cab on the administrative level, but we did the switch due to the feedback we received,” she said.
Despite these difficulties, Goodloe said the program overall has been a success and said she hopes to see it continue in the fall. That decision will be made later this year by University officials in conjunction with members of the incoming Council, led by Council President-elect John Nelson.
Read More
Student Council votes to relocate Hereford orchard and basketball hoop
By Lauren Seeliger | 1 hours agoStudent Council passed a resolution Tuesday to relocate the orchard and basketball hoop of Hereford Residential College due to construction in the surrounding area.
Dean Rucker honored with Z Society’s highest honor, Pale Z Award
By Brendon Bordwine | 18 hours agoThe Society has a storied history of honoring University leaders with the Pale Z.
Students receive free STI testing through U.Va. Health and Wellness
By Jackie Bond | YesterdayThrough funding from Student Council, students are now able to receive free STI testing with SHW which includes tests for HIV, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Hepatitis C.
