Thirty years ago, ASUA Escort Service would help UA students get around. Today, ASUA’s SafeRide is one of the most visible and utilized services on campus.

And this semester is extra special because the service will be serving its 500,000th passenger of this decade within the coming weeks.  

“”We’re trying to break the records that were set last year,”” said Chris Wozny, SafeRide administrative director.

Last year, 76,882 passengers utilized SafeRide with a whopping 936 passengers served during one night of Spring Fling, the annual student-run carnival.

All those passengers mean a lot of late hours for the dedicated staff, which totals 35 employees this year.

Although the staff noted that it isn’t hard to find students who want to work at SafeRide, a great deal of their staff graduated at the end of last year and 12 positions had to be filled — and quickly.

“”This year we decided to post something on Job Link,”” he said. “”And in an hour it had 100 views, by the next day 300, and by the end of the week it had over 600 views.””

With the drivers out face-to-face with students, and administrators routing calls and keeping things in check, SafeRide is always ticking.

“”As an administrator you are always on call,”” said Kristin Walsh, one of three SafeRide assistant directors. The administrative staff of SafeRide includes Wozny, Operations Director Anna Streight and assistant directors Walsh, Nicole Miller and David Nakolan, all of whom shared stories of being called in at midnight or 1 a.m. to manage a crisis.

“”We provide a service that serves the student body, and ASUA’s mission is to serve the student body,”” Wozny said. “”ASUA is like one big family, and without them, we wouldn’t be here.””

Wozny said that despite the things students do to make their blood boil, SafeRide is a great place to work, not only for the community within workers but for their service to the greater UA community.

The entire administrative staff said that just as ASUA is a big family, so is SafeRide.

“”It really is a fun job. We all love it,”” Streight said. Someone said “”SafeRide for life,”” prompting laughter from the entire group — in part because for them it was true.

SafeRide employees work hard to both provide their service as well as keep the UA safe.

“”We not only transport passengers, but we also look out for the safety of our community,”” Wozny said.