The assault of a 20-year-old University student Saturday night who was waiting for SafeRide highlights the need for the program to straighten out kinks in its services. Now is the time for\nSafeRide to improve the quality of its resources and achieve its stated mission of providing a safe passage for "current students ... who would otherwise have to walk alone at night."
The recurring problem of long delays in SafeRide's services only has been aggravated as students take more safety precautions in light of recent incidents. Currently, the program does not have the capacity to accommodate a large number of riders. With two vans responding to student requests and a third solely devoted to making library runs, seats fill up quickly - especially during peak exam times. Calls to the service line are often met with busy signals because of high use, which is frustratingly inconvenient for students. Such drawbacks deter students from making use of the program. Instead, they might choose to walk alone at night and put their safety at risk.
Once students get through to the SafeRide dispatcher, they often incur waits as long as half an hour for a service van. Additionally, vans fill up quickly, and unlucky students left behind must either wait alone for an indefinite amount of time or walk. Adding only one additional service vehicle to the fleet could help fix this problem and allow the program to function more effectively.
Moreover, SafeRide drivers are required to deny service to inebriated students. Although the purpose of this policy is to protect dispatchers from aggressive riders, it also puts these students, who might have impaired judgment, at risk for being attacked. Also, groups of students are given priority over individuals. Even though giving groups higher priority makes more logistical sense for drivers, those traveling alone need the service the most. SafeRide should revisit these policies to ensure everyone can get home safely.
One alternative to SafeRide is the Yellow Cab program created in partnership with the Office of the Dean of Students. But although students need not pay up front for a ride in a Yellow Cab taxi, some may be deterred by the fee and forgo the ride. SafeRide, on the other hand, is free and thus has an obvious niche in the University community.
That some other efforts to supplement SafeRide's services have fallen flat indicates that the University should dedicate more resources to SafeRide rather than starting new programs. For instance, FreeRide - a program launched during fall 2008 to provide free cab rides to students - was a $30,000 burden for Student Council. Although the initiative was popular among students, it was discontinued the following spring because it was frequently misused as free transportation by students to social events rather than as a way to stay safe. The program also was a financial blow to taxi drivers who did not receive tips for transporting FreeRiders because reimbursements initially only covered service fees. So rather than complementing SafeRide's services, FreeRide only created financial difficulties for Council and angered some drivers.
A good way to ensure students are safe when they travel at night is to encourage them to use SafeRide. But before it can be truly effective, the program must address the issues that have hindered its services.
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