The Tulane Safety Committee, in collaboration with the It’s Not Enough campaign and Tulane University Police Department, is looking to add another shuttle to the Safe Ride program.
According to Cornelius LeBlanc, associate director of Tulane’s Department of Public Safety, 50,074 people have ridden Safe Ride from Aug. 28, 2011 to April 18, outnumbering last year’s total by over 5,500 riders.
LeBlanc also said that information collected from Safe Ride passengers, including names, phone numbers and pick-up locations helped determine that 34 to 35 percent of passengers were picked up from Loyola locations.
The purpose of the new shuttle, according to LeBlanc, is to have pre-determined destinations to pick up and drop off passengers that would be to take the load off of the Safe Ride shuttles that run based on passenger requests. The new shuttle would operate during the same hours as the Safe Ride busses.
“There is a shuttle that’s being proposed to run a set route with set pick-up points, which will run on a set schedule,” LeBlanc said.
Last Friday April 13, Tulane police increased the number of operating regular Safe Ride shuttles.
LeBlanc said that Safe Ride now operates four shuttles on Friday and Saturday nights, three shuttles on Wednesday and Thursday nights, and two shuttles on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights and Tulane seniors.
It’s Not Enough co-founder Clare Austen-Smith said the idea for an additional shuttle was conceived by both her group and Tulane police.
According to Austen-Smith, before the creation of Tulane’s safety committee at the beginning of the semester, It’s Not Enough members met with police Superintendent Jon Barnwell to discuss the idea of an additional shuttle only to find out that Tulane police were considering a similar idea.
Mass communication sophomore Chika John, who said she uses safe ride as a means to get back to Cabra Hall and go out every weekend, said she thinks that the additional shuttle would make the Safe Ride process run smoother and faster, alleviating wait times for those waiting by themselves.
According to John, one of her complaints with Safe Ride is that no priority is given to people waiting alone.
“It’s more dangerous for that one person to be standing outside than a group of people,” John said. “They should at least have one shuttle dedicated to picking up parties of one, or they should at least have that one person put at the top of the list.”
John said that the benefit to having a shuttle that operates on a set schedule is that students will have a better idea of when to expect to be picked up instead of having to wait for a call from Safe Ride.
“If it’s on a set system, I think it would be better because then I know that when I go outside, I’ll know when the shuttle will be there,” she said.
Scott O’Brien can be reached at [email protected]
Mr Temple • Dec 7, 2022 at 10:16 am
Mr O’Brien. I question when did Tulane University stated there safe ride program. I was hired in 2009 when I retired from RTA
Having knowledge of transportation systems i started the safe ride programs making up the schedule you now use. I resigned due to verse issues working with the department