UW-River Falls successful Safe Ride Home Program expanded with support from City Council

September 12, 2016 -- The University of Wisconsin-River Falls newly modified Safe Ride Home Program was approved by the River Falls City Council last month to provide an expanded schedule of services for UW-River Falls students and the community. 

The initial pilot program was created to provide students a safe form of transportation during winter weekend nights. Due to the overwhelming success of the initial effort, both the UW-River Falls Student Senate and the River Falls City Council voted to provide additional funding to the program that will allow for a permanently established service running from September to May.

"From the beginning, the hope for this project was to empower students to make safe decisions by giving them the services to do so," said Christopher Morgan, Student Senate president. "I look forward to seeing this program grow and mature at UWRF and I extend my appreciation to all who have assisted the project to date."

The Safe Ride Home Program was created by a vote of the 78^th Session Student Senate in late 2015. This program utilizes the River Falls City Taxi service, which employs professionally trained drivers who have gone through rigorous background checks. The initial program was launched as a pilot to assess its effectiveness and need. After examining ridership during the winter months, it was determined that the program not only provided a significant resource to the students at UW-River Falls, but that the general public was also taking advantage of the extended taxi hours during the weekends.

While the program continues to remain free for UW-River Falls students, the general public is also welcome to take advantage of the taxi's extended weekend hours by paying regular fare rates.

"We are pleased to join with UWRF in expanding the Safe Ride Home Program," said Julie Bergstrom, assistant city administrator for the City of River Falls. "This program benefits both students and the general public, illustrated by ridership results from the 2015-2016 academic year. The program is just another example of the City's valuable ongoing partnerships with UWRF."

For more information about the Safe Ride Home Program, email christopher.morgan@my.uwrf.edu.