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Program Planning Action Guide
Marketing Your Program
Using Social Norming
Model Programs
High Risk Times
Creating a Safe Ride Program
Collaboration
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Taxicab Service
For areas where most students live away from campus
and hangout spots are scattered throughout the community, a taxicab
service is most effective. A taxi cab service provides the same
basic service as a van/shuttle program but is able to "operate"
up to 24 hours a day, depending on the needs of the community and
the financial resources available. They can be structured to work
with one company (through a bidding process) or with several companies.
Rides are obtained by either calling the cab company directly (if
only one company is used) or calling a program dispatcher. Fares
for program use are billed monthly to the sponsoring organization
and may, depending upon the arrangement, include gratuity. Other
contract provisions with cab companies frequently include a fixed
rate per person, limit to where transportation is provided without
an additional charge to the riders and a restricted number of guests
permitted to ride with students.
Campus Example:
At the University of Virginia, the campus has contracted with Yellow Cab for over 15 years. Here’s how they market it:
“The Yellow Cab Program provides taxi service to U.Va. students who find themselves in uncomfortable situations with no reliable or safe means of transportation and no money for cab fare. Students can call Yellow Cab, charge the ride to U.Va., and be billed later that month -- no questions asked.”
The campus provides all first year and transfer students with wallet-sized cards (see http://www.virginia.edu/case/support/safe-rides.html) on move-in day. Most RAs will encourage their residents to pull out their cell phones and enter the Yellow Cab number so they always have it handy.
The yellow cab program was used more than 1,200 times in 2007-08.
Advantages
- Services large communities efficiently.
- No insurance, staffing, or vehicle maintenance
concerns.
- Costs relative to use, which keeps the cost to
service ratio constant.
Disadvantages
- Costs difficult to forecast, since they
depend upon the number of cab rides given and the number of passengers
per cab.
- Drivers are not trained to handle intoxicated
passengers or emergency situations.
- Vehicles are staffed by non-students, which may
reduce the comfort/security level for some riders.
- Only one company employee per vehicle.
- Capacity per ride is limited to about 4.
- Tendency for some students to use the program
when not needed for the intended purpose.
- Ridership and billing inaccuracies sometimes cause
financial repercussions.
- Unpredictable response times to ride requests.
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