It’s 7 p.m., and the reservation schedule is already fully booked for Safe Ride drivers, who drive passengers around Eugene and Springfield to their destinations.
“It’s quite busy for a Tuesday night,” said Julie DeCourcey, Safe Ride’s co-director of finance, as she answered the phones and radioed instructions to Safe Ride drivers on the road from her desk in the ASUO Women’s Center. “This is quite impressive.”
In all, DeCourcey said Safe Ride provided 47 rides that night, amid the program’s recent name change, which began last week.
“We’re completely the same service, but under a different name,” DeCourcey said.
DeCourcey said Safe Ride’s name change from Assault Prevention Shuttle arose from confused responses from students who believed the shuttle service was for those who had already been assaulted. DeCourcey recalled one particular instance when a Safe Ride dispatcher received a call from a female student who had just been assaulted and desperately needed a ride. DeCourcey said she and other staff members were able to move the ride schedule around to give the student a ride, but were unable to locate her and did not have her contact information.
“It was a very unfortunate situation, because we were not able to get ahold of her or give her a ride,” DeCourcey said. “Usually we’re just trained to refer them to someone else; we would love to help, but unfortunately, we’re not trained to counsel people. What we’re trying to do is reduce the risk of being assaulted and hopefully prevent assaults by doing that.”
Instead, DeCourcey said assault victims should reach out to the Sexual Assault Support Services of Lane County, which can provide a free ride to victims that have been sexually assaulted.
DeCourcey said the name Safe Ride arose from Project Saferide, a University initiative that began in 1985 to provide shuttle services to women as a way to prevent sexual assaults. According to Safe Ride’s website, the program later expanded to include a sister program, called NightRide in 2001, as a way “to reach out to members of the campus community who are at an elevated risk for assault: students of color, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community members and international students.”
These two programs then consolidated their resources in 2003 to “continue delivering this necessary service” to all students and faculty members.
Although DeCourcey declined to disclose the details of Safe Ride’s operating costs, she said the allocated funds are used to repair and refuel the program’s four minivans and pay the program’s 15 part-time, minimum-wage staff members. DeCourcey also said Safe Ride usually uses 40 to 80 unpaid volunteers each term to help drive the vans, navigate directions and take calls from riders.
Altogether, DeCourcey estimates that Safe Ride provided nearly 1,200 rides last term and currently provides nearly 30 to 50 rides during on any given weeknight and from 50 to 70 rides on weekends.
DeCourcey said she encourages riders to call in advance for a ride so they are guaranteed a spot. Although calls are constantly coming in for rides, DeCourcey said some are turned away, since the ride reservation list can be filled on certain days by 6 p.m., when the service first begins. As a result, DeCourcey said feelings of frustration and tension can develop from students and program members alike.
“We kind of get a lot of pressure from people who really, really want a ride and I really, really want to give them a ride, but a lot of times, our hands are tied; we can only do so much with what we have,” DeCourcey said. “It’s hard when someone says, ‘If I get assaulted tonight, it’s your fault.’”
Nevertheless, some drivers have said their experiences have been largely positive, while others have began to not only use the service but return the favor by volunteering.
“Last year, I used APS a lot and thought I should volunteer for it some time,” said Elaine Ramos, a University senior art major who started volunteering as a driver for Safe Ride last term. “This year, I’ve been trying to volunteer a lot in the community in general, so I thought this would be a nice opportunity to give back.”
Ramos, who volunteers for Safe Ride once a week and one weekend a month for a two-hour shift, said she usually picks up about 15 to 20 riders during any given shift.
“I think that so many often times need a safe ride late at night,” Ramos said. “It’s just so nice to have that instead of being scared to walk a few blocks.”
Some riders agree and believe that the service is important. Carolina Caballero, a graduate dance major and international student from Colombia, uses Safe Ride regularly as a ride home from her dance rehearsals at night.
“Where I live, it’s very dark, so it’s a very safe and comfortable way for me to get back home,” Caballero said.
So agrees Virginia Xhang, a fourth-year East Asian languages and literatures doctoral student from China who uses the service frequently to get from the Knight Library to her home.
“It’s convenient and safe, especially since the weather now is so cold and wet,” Xhang said. “I really like to pay attention when I received the safety alerts, so I think this is the best service that is available.”
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Late-night shuttle service a big hit with prudent students
Daily Emerald
January 18, 2011
Aaron Marineau
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