STUDENT COUNCIL recently submitted a proposal to the University’s Parking and Transportation Committee to implement free late-night parking in the Central Grounds Parking Garage next to Newcomb Hall. This proposal is, more than anything else, aimed at providing students a safe way to get home after late nights in the library. Similarly, earlier this semester Council unveiled FreeRide, a program that allows Council to pick up the tab for any late-night taxi rides home. Both of these projects are meant to prevent students from walking home late at night. Clearly, Council feels strongly that students should not be walking home late at night. The question is, why don’t students feel the same way?
SafeRide was started as a joint venture between the University Police Department and Council in the 1980s. Its main purpose is to provide students who would otherwise have to walk home alone after midnight a safe alternative. Many of the current complaints against SafeRide include the amount of time students have to wait in order to get picked up and then the additional time spent waiting to be dropped off. SafeRide drops students off in the order they are picked up, but also make detours to pick up more students. And the waiting only starts once you get through to SafeRide. Sometimes the call goes straight to voice mail, forcing students to call again and again, or just to give up. This was a major reason behind the creation of FreeRide — a taxi ride is much faster and more direct, although that comes at a cost to Council. After the initial trial period, it will be difficult to continue funding FreeRide. One possible source of funds could come from an increase in Student Activity Fees. This may be worth it if it prompts more students to get home safely, instead of walking.
SafeRide and FreeRide attempt to fill the same need, and it is interesting that Council has come up with the second program. Since students are unwilling to wait for SafeRide and would rather walk home, regardless of the safety concerns, FreeRide is attempting to give students a greater incentive to wait for a ride by making a safe way home quick and convenient. The problem with this solution is that it removes responsibility from the students to provide for their own safety and transportation. The fact that many students would rather make the unsafe trek home than wait for SafeRide is a reflection both on their poor judgement and on the effectiveness of SafeRide. If students are out late at night, they should have a plan to get home safely. As adults, it is our own responsibility to ensure our well-being, and that includes taking necessary precautions. Too often students throw out caution in favor of convenience. If a late night is unplanned and students find themselves without a plan to get home, that is what SafeRide is for. FreeRide has been created because too many students are unwilling to wait and unwilling to pay. The existing Dean of Student’s Yellow Cab program allows students to take a taxi home and pay at a later date. Cab fare seems a small price to pay for safety, and yet too many students would rather walk.
The free late-night parking program is one way Council is working to hand responsibility over to the students. Student Council President Matt Schrimper said, “This program gives students more ownership and responsibility over their own willingness to get home safely.” Though I have my own concerns about students driving home in the middle of the night, when they would be less alert and more prone to mistakes, again, that is under the control of the students. The free late-night parking program gives students an incentive to provide for their own safe return from the library, and if they feel too tired to drive, SafeRide and FreeRide are still available. This program makes it easier for students to take responsibility over their own safety, and I hope many students will take advantage of it.
Students like to believe that they are invincible, that nothing bad will happen to them. It’s not just something you hear about on the news. Walking home late at night is dangerous and should not be taken so lightly. That Council felt the need to create FreeRide and the late-night parking program tells me that students are not acting safely. While the late-night parking program will not be operational this semester, I hope students will utilize the extended bus hours as well as SafeRide and FreeRide to get home from the library late at night during exams. With all of these programs aimed at getting students home, it seems that more students need to take their safety as seriously as Council does.
Annette Robertson is a Cavalier Daily Associate Editor. She can be reached at a.robertson@cavalierdaily.com.
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