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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.
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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