Josh Fields/Arizona Summer Wildcat Linguistics Graduate Student Gulalai Yawar exits Safe Ride at the Student Union Memorial Center Monday night. Safe Rides is an ASUA project that provides students safe transportation around campus and operates Monday through Friday from 7:30p.m. to 11 p.m. throughout the summer.

For the first time, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Safe Ride program is operating over the summer, and usage is growing, proving there is still a demand for the service, even during the summer months.

Josh Wright, ASUA Safe Ride director, reported the service had given more than 600 rides by June 9, and more than 500 of them were during Pre-Session.

The service had transported 890 passengers as of Monday night, Wright said.

Wright said he expected the number to increase during the first and second summer sessions.

Along with an outstanding first summer in operation, ASUA Safe Ride has reported increased statistics for the 2004-2005 academic year.

In a press release, Jennifer Sherman, assistant director, said the service provided 39,841 rides in the 2004-2005 academic year, which is a 9.1 percent increase from the 2003-2004 academic year total of 36,508.

Wright attributed the higher numbers to better marketing in residence halls as well as new-student orientation sessions.

This summer, ASUA Safe Ride is advertising the service at every orientation session, Wright said, and posting advertisements in areas where they will be seen by many students, like in residence halls and near phones in the Student Recreation Center.

"We will reach over 6,000 new students," Wright said. "We put information about the service in each dorm room, as well as our presentations at every single new student orientation."

Next year, ASUA Safe Ride hopes to continue their improved service by adding extra staff and two new mini-vans, which will carry more passengers, getting them to their destinations more quickly and comfortably, Wright said.