The University Transit Service will offer weekend late-night service in a new pilot program, which will run for four weekends, beginning April 7.
"We found that there was a great need for transportation for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights," said Clayton Powers, Department of Transportation co-chair for the Student Council Student Life Committee. "We decided to provide that transportation for safety reasons as well as convenience."
Student Council began planning the program last semester. It circulated a petition asking whether students would be willing to pay up to five dollars in annual student fees for the late-night bus service.
"We wanted to show the administration that there was interest," Powers said.
The petition was circulated for about two weeks and received over 1,000 signatures, according to Powers.
"Now we're doing a functional thing to see whether it's worth it to put money into it," said Darius Nabors, Student Council Student Life Committee chair.
An outside contractor has been hired to provide buses and drivers for the program.
"The school had a problem, understandably so, with using the University buses and drivers that late at night," Powers said.
The cost of the pilot, $16,000, will be split between Council and the University Department of Transportation.
The success of the program will be gauged by student use. If students use the bus during the pilot extended hours as much as they use it during the normal UTS late hours -- the hours between 6 p.m. and 12 a.m. after most classes have ended -- then Council will work to implement the service in the fall, Nabors said.
"The pilot program would be determined a success if it is utilized a lot," he said. "If ridership is not up, then there is no reason to continue it."
Many students use SafeRide, which runs from midnight until 6 a.m., as a means of transportation rather than for safety reasons. The late-night bus service will help lessen overuse of SafeRide, according to Nabors.
"More services to get more people home," he said.
Council has started an extensive advertising campaign for the program, which includes flyer and e-mails. A facebook group, to be titled "I love late-night busing," also will be created to help spread the word, Nabors said.
"We're trying to get the word out because the more students that use this service, the more likely it will be used for future years," he said.
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