Arizona Daily Wildcat Online
sections
Front Page
News
Opinions
Sports
Go Wild
Live Culture
Police Beat
Datebook
Comics
Crossword
Special Sections
Photo Spreads
Classifieds
The Wildcat
Letter to the Editor
Wildcat Staff
Search
Archives
Job Openings
Advertising Info
Student Media
Arizona Student Media Info
UATV -
Student TV
 
KAMP -
Student Radio
The Desert Yearbook
Daily Wildcat Staff Alumni

SafeRide projected to give 50K rides during entire school year


Photo
Taylor House/Arizona Daily Wildcat
SafeRide driver Gabriel Wright, a family studies and human development sophomore, takes a student home late Monday night. Last semester, SafeRide transported a record number of 26,657 people, which exceeds the number of rides given in fall 2004 by 8,698.
By Wells Brambl
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Print this

Even after SafeRide scrapped its airport shuttle service last semester, the free campus transportation program broke records with a 48 percent increase in rides, possibly justifying the need for more funding.

If the usage rate remains steady, officials are projecting the total will easily break 50,000 rides for this academic year, shattering the prior year's 39,841 rides, said Joshua Wright, the director of SafeRide, an Associated Students of the University of Arizona program.

"This year is out of character," said Wright, a public administration graduate student. "The funding needs to go up to support this kind of growth and maintain the same quality of service."

However, Wright said he expects the program to make it through the semester without financial difficulties.

SafeRide operates on a yearly budget of $75,000. If SafeRide meets their projected total of 50,000 rides given by the end of this semester, this will boil down to each ride costing the university around $1.50.

The airport shuttle service, which offered rides from Tucson International Airport beginning last semester, ended prematurely because of a weak student response and unavoidable airplane delays, which made it difficult to pick up returning students.

But another SafeRide innovation from last semester which succeeded was offering the program's service on Fridays.

Wright said the sudden increase in usage might be explained by aggressive marketing by the University of Arizona Police Department and the OASIS Program concerning safety advocacy. The message of campus safety emphasized during orientation could have nudged freshmen, who usually don't have cars on campus, toward SafeRide.

Whether SafeRide appeals more to the safety-conscious or to those in need of a convenient ride is ultimately blurry, but the demand for the program's services has increased dramatically regardless.

"We have tried to expand every year by adding more vehicles and staff," Wright said. "Maybe it's just we're doing our job better. Our response time is very good."

This semester, Wright said there probably won't be any major changes or innovations to SafeRide because everything is already going smoothly, and the summer is the only practical time to implement changes.

Kristen Phillips, an elementary education sophomore said she and her friends use SafeRide frequently for transportation from residence hall to residence hall.

"You use it when it's dark and you don't want to walk by yourself," she said.

According to SafeRide's most recent survey in October 2004, only about 10 percent of those surveyed were first time "SafeRiders," while the rest used the service at least once a week. Eight percent said they used it daily.

Wright described SafeRide's demographic as being composed of "mostly women, mostly undergrads ... and mostly freshmen."

Average growth during typical years had generally been between 3,000 and 5,000, he said.

By the end of SafeRide's operation this semester, Wright predicts total growth will be more than double that.

Despite the surge in the number of people using the service, Wright said the average response time has remained at five minutes.

Right now, SafeRide operates six vehicles on average every night. There is a back-up car and a golf cart that are used only when necessary.



Write a Letter to the Editor
articles
Campus reaction to pres. finalists positive
divider
Napolitano budget ups funding for student aid
divider
ASUA copes with Bernsen's leave of absence
divider
Karate master teaches Tri-Delts self-defense
divider
Law students push for elephant haven
divider
PSU decorated by Boys & Girls club
divider
Students help make Campus Health safer
divider
SafeRide projected to give 50K rides during entire school year
divider
Police Beat
divider
Datebook
divider
Restaurant and Bar Guide
Housing Guide
Search for:
advanced search Archives

NEWS | SPORTS | OPINIONS | GO WILD
CLASSIFIEDS | ARCHIVES | CONTACT US | SEARCH



Webmaster - webmaster@wildcat.arizona.edu
© Copyright 2005 - The Arizona Daily Wildcat - Arizona Student Media