On an extremely cold evening a few weeks ago, my friends and I were feeling lazy and decided to call the DU Shuttle (formerly Safe Ride) for a ride to a friend’s house. Imagine our surprise when the driver told us he couldn’t take us to East Wesley Avenue and South Marion Street because it was outside of his route. Instead, he would gladly drop us off near Nelson Hall, a good six blocks from our destination. What was the point of taking the shuttle, I asked. I might as well have walked since that’s what my friends and I ended up doing anyway.
The primary purpose of the shuttle service is to provide safe transportation for DU students. While it now operates seven days a week during the day and night, the main purpose is safety. In my mind, the DU Shuttle, particularly on evenings and weekends, is meant to provide a safe alternative to dangerous activities such as drinking and driving.
Well if the shuttle service is only going to drive around areas that I can easily reach foot, how is it accomplishing that goal? I can walk from my house to any area of campus – it’s what I do everyday to get to class. I can’t – or, actually, I don’t want to – walk to areas farther from campus where most of my friends live. While I understand that the DU Shuttle doesn’t want to become a free taxi service for students, if it wants to provide a safe alternative for students, it should actually provide rides to places too far for students to walk to. What purpose is it serving if it doesn’t take students to areas they would typically drive to? If DU truly wants to provide a safe transportation alternative for students, it should provide a more realistic route than focuses on areas students are less likely to walk to. Let’s proactively prevent drunk driving by providing a shuttle route based upon student needs.
Currently, the shuttle route extends from Buchtel Boulevard to East Wesley Avenue and from South High Street to South Josephine Street. This service accommodates primarily students who live on campus and doesn’t attempt to assist those living off campus but nearby. I’m not suggesting the shuttle go wherever students want it to go – that’s completely unrealistic. I am suggesting, however, that the service extend its route in all directions in order to accommodate more students therefore improving the likelihood that it will actually serve its goal of providing a safe transportation option for ALL DU students.
Next time I use this service, I hope it doesn’t dump me and my friends off on a corner to walk down six blocks of unlit streets to get to our destination. If the DU Shuttle is going to promise safety, then it should take students where they need to go within a realistic framework – perhaps up to one mile from campus? – instead of leaving them on street corners to walk the rest of the way down dark neighborhood streets in the middle of the night.
