The Designated Driver Shuttle, a service that provides drunken students rides home from parties, received about $13,000 from student government on Wednesday to repair its vans, which, a co-director said, were not properly maintained by previous co-directors.
This week at the Student Senate meeting, DDS Co-Director David Goward requested $2,000 from the Senate and asked permission to transfer $11,000 from an unused payroll account to pay for necessary repairs such as new tires, radios, brakes, a peedometer and axle.
After being closed for nearly two months, the shuttle service reopened in February with a new operations manual and new co-directors. The program had shut down after its employees were caught with alcohol in the DDS office, not answering phones and later driving vans during winter break when they were not authorized to do so.
Since reopening, DDS has provided 8,000 rides to fee-paying students and their friends, covering more than 15,000 miles.
The unused payroll that was transferred came from unpaid wages during the two months that the program was shut down. Goward said Wednesday that he will be able to pay all employees for the remainder of the fiscal year while making necessary repairs to ensure the program can reliably function on a nightly basis.
He said the ASUO is currently working on a five-year plan to replace the vans, most of which have 90,000 to 150,000 miles on them.