ASUA SafeRide plans to expand its boundaries of transportation to accommodate the needs of residents during business hours. SafeRide is working with the UA to increase its northern boundary to Fort Lowell Road instead of Grant Road and hopes to announce its increase in boundaries within the next few weeks.
SafeRide is a free transportation service created for UA students and staff to help accommodate the lives of an everyday student and employee. According to its website, SafeRide is managed and operated by students entirely under ASUA. Created in 1981, SafeRide’s mission is to provide a different way for students and faculty to travel at night around campus and the Tucson area.
“Our current boundaries are Country Club [Road] to the east, Grant [Road] to the north, Broadway [Boulevard] to the south and Stone [Avenue] to the west,” wrote Junelie Aguayo, SafeRide’s assistant administrative director, in an email interview.
Driving employees start the position at minimum wage, according to Dakota Maness, SafeRide’s administrative director. Employees are paid by the hour and are not allowed to accept tips as government employees.
SafeRide utilizes government vehicles and sees no reason to change rate of pay for the expansion in boundaries, Maness wrote in an email. The transportation service is not currently hiring, but will look for applicants for the spring semester between November and December.
Maness said the SafeRide team and ASUA managers approved the proposal to expand the service’s boundaries. SafeRide is currently trying to get an approval from UA Risk Management Services along with an opinion from the University of Arizona Police Department.
SafeRide’s hours and staff will remain the same; however, Maness said they may need to add another vehicle and some additional staff toward the end of the year, but not as a consequence to the boundary change.
“We have also made SafeRide more secure for our passengers by requiring each passenger to give their netID when requesting a ride, as well as showing their CatCard once they are picked up by our driver,” Aguayo said. “This will ensure that our service is only used by those affiliated with the university and allow our passengers to feel safe and secure when using our service.”
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