Things you always wanted to know about SafeRide

Sometimes, nights out don’t go as planned.

A night out drinking could leave a student drunk and stranded with no way of getting home.

Emory’s service “SafeRide” allows students to call for an escort back to their dorms during late nights, and can come in especially handy for anyone worried about walking back alone.

The service is part of a national organization whose mission is to prevent any kind of impaired driving. On campus, a SafeRide shuttle operates Thursday-Sunday from 11:00 pm to 3:00 am, and various other forms of transportation (including cars, golf carts, and walking escorts) operate daily from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am. Students can request a SafeRide through the TransLoc Rider app.

Through the Emory TransLoc app, students can select a pick-up location and a SafeRide will come.

While SafeRide might be a viable option for many, it appears many students don’t think to utilize SafeRide as often as they could.

Senior Neha Bansal is one student who has used a SafeRide before, and although the service was helpful for her it was not all it was cracked up to be.

“I was at Clairmont (campus) and I needed to come back when the shuttles weren’t running. It was a little annoying because it said it would come in five minutes, but it actually came after 45 minutes,” Neha said.

Although she didn’t feel SafeRide was as prompt and efficient as it could be, Neha did in fact appreciate the ride. She also offers advice to other students who may not be aware of SafeRide as an option to get home.

“Definitely more people should be more aware of (SafeRide) just because I feel if more people start using it, they will need to be more on time.”

Veronica Howell, a freshman from California, has insider knowledge about how the company operates because she actually worked for SafeRide a couple of years ago.

Veronica Howell has worked for SafeRide and has some recommendations for improvements.

Veronica took calls for customers wanting to get a SafeRide home from Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach, California. According to Veronica, the company worked as a volunteer opportunity in which students would get into groups of three (one is the driver, one accompanies the driver, and one takes the calls).

She said: “I think the range that SafeRide operates in should be larger. When I worked the range from the hospital was only a couple miles, which is the same case here at Emory”.

Despite some setbacks, including the limited range in which SafeRide will pick up students and the promptness of the shuttles, Veronica still believes the idea behind SafeRide is a good one.

She said: “It definitely should be more popular; I don’t think anyone knows about it”.

Other students, however, don’t see as many benefits to SafeRide. Like Bansal, freshman Aria Lee had frustration when using SafeRide.

Freshman Aria Lee has used SafeRide and does not think it is as efficient as it could be.

Aria said: “It’s not that reliable. It’s late and it’s confusing.

“For example, sometimes they text when they are nearby and other times they don’t and just leave. Sometimes the people are kind of snappy. It’s also hard to know where it will be.”

SafeRide is in direct competition with Uber, another mode of transportation popular amongst college students, but may be a better option for many students.

Veronica said: “I’d say SafeRide is more trustworthy than Uber. It’s people your own age and you have to go through a security program through SafeRide. With Uber I don’t know how they choose drivers”.

While many students may still opt for to use Uber when they need a safe way to get home, it’s good to know the university has other options to keep students as safe as possible, although perhaps Emory needs to publicize this service more.