Undergraduates complain that the University�s SafeRides service is inadequate, with vans arriving slowly or dispatchers denying rides to callers. Administrators are looking for ways to improve the transportation service�s coordination and cut down on abuse of the system.
The only thing junior Shahrazad Shareef wanted to do Sunday night was get home safely. She had been with friends all evening at 220 Alexander St., and by midnight the gathering was breaking up—so Shareef called SafeRides.
“There had been that robbery the other night, and I didn’t want to sit at the bus stop by myself, and everyone else I was with lived on Central,” she said.
The SafeRides dispatcher told Shareef that buses were running and if she felt unsafe waiting then she could call the police department for a ride to West Campus. A friend eventually drove Shareef to her dorm in Edens Quadrangle, but she remained frustrated with the transit service.
Shareef is not the only one. Over the past year, undergraduate dissatisfaction with the surface has ballooned, and students often complain to one another about rude dispatch officers and slow or denied service. Students allege that SafeRides’ occasional reluctance to pick people up is unsafe, especially given the multiple reports of armed assaults on campus since November.
Officials who run the service explained that SafeRides is meant to supplement bus service and is not a taxi service for community members. The dispatch center takes an average of 300 calls per night from students, visitors to the Medical Center and employees. During peak periods, calls frequently come in six or seven at a time.
Although SafeRides administrators said more than two-thirds of ride requests are answered within 10 minutes, they have been working to shave minutes off the response time.
“When someone’s waiting for service, 10 minutes can feel like an hour,” said Catherine Reeve, director of parking and transportation services.
She said that some people—both in the Medical Center and on campus—abuse the service, especially when it is raining or when students are drunk. The extra calls tie up the four vans SafeRides and prevent timely answering of legitimate calls.
Officials emphasized that the security of community members is always the primary aim of the service. “If it’s an area that isn’t safe, we will pay added attention to that,” said Peter Murphy, assistant director of parking and transportation services and coordinator of SafeRides. He added, however, that the definition of safe is subjective.
Students are concerned that the definition of “safe” is too strict.
“If a guy calls, SafeRides doesn’t take it very seriously,” sophomore Stephen Miller said, citing the experiences of multiple friends. “SafeRides doesn’t take your word for it if you don’t feel safe.”
Many of the administrative difficulties stem from the merger of the transit systems of the Medical Center and the University, which occurred just last year. In addition, SafeRides has contracts with Duke Manor and the apartment complexes owned by Triangle Communities to provide transit service for $56,000 a year.
Reeve said that even though demand for SafeRides has increased substantially since its inception a decade ago, the resources of the program have remained relatively stagnant.
Several improvements, however, have been in development all summer, she said. Transportation services hopes to train the dispatch officers for all van services so that SafeRides will be able to help callers find the most appropriate transportation method, including the Medical Center buses and Charlene’s Safe Rides taxi company.
In addition, regular East-West Campus bus service may be extended on Thursday nights until 4 a.m. to free the vans on the high-demand night. The office is also considering a door-to-door shuttle service from a single point on Central, with connections to the buses.
Until the changes take effect, though, students who feel uneasy sitting at the shadowy bus stops on Central Campus are left wondering whether SafeRides is doing its job.
“Aren’t they supposed to pick people up when it’s late? Especially a female alone,” Shareef said.
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