Running from 7 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., USG's Safety Escort service is a necessity for some students needing transportation around campus. However, for many of those students it's a service that's lacking.
Whether it's showing up late, or simply not showing at all, students are finding noticeable cracks in the escort service. However, Tempe USG candidates on the DeGravina ticket is hoping to change that.
The ticket unveiled its new Safety Escort Revamp, which includes plans for an Uber-like app, where students can hail the service with the tap of a few fingers.
The app is a brainchild of Alex Arena, current USG senator and presidential candidate DeGravina's vice president of services.
“Nobody makes calls anymore. People use websites that have apps,” Arena said. “Our new safety escort model moves it something from like a free taxi to a new Uber. It would allow you to summit an online form but you would use a mobile application.”
Arena said instead of calling in, the GPS on the app would determine your location. He said often times, students will place reservations ahead of time and never get picked up by Safety Escort. Under the new plan, a student will receive a phone call when their safety escort is on the way, that way they know they are getting picked up — not stood up.
“We actually want to formally implement reservation systems,” Arena said. “We want to make it so public that you can make reservations.”
Arena’s proposed changes would not only revamp the service, but
“We really want to make it a first class service,” Arena said. “We’re going to treat it like a business.”
Arena said the jobs of student workers at Safety Escort wouldn’t be put in jeopardy — for now at least.
“We still want to keep the number of people who work for
Business sustainability freshman Hannah Hunt has been working for the Safety Escort since December. She said she gets various complaints from students about Safety Escort, specifically the long waiting times.
“Taking too long is probably the biggest concern,” Hunt said. “I don’t think people realize that driving around campus at certain times is really busy. People don’t understand there are other things besides their ride.”
Hunt said the problem wasn’t necessarily with the staff, but more so with the availability of the vans.
“We’re definitely not short staffed — we’re short on vehicles,” Hunt said.
Hunt heard about the app when Arena visited her sorority chapter meeting to discuss what the new Safety Escort app would be like. She said she didn't think the idea is or would be effective and would take student jobs away.
“I think it’s very unfeasible. Obviously, it would take jobs away from students who have (safety escort) jobs," Hunt said. "People don't realize it's run by students — we're doing our best."
When political science and journalism student Bo Tefu first heard about Safety Escort, she said she was excited to use the service to go see friends on the other side of campus. After Tefu used the service frequently, she saw flaws in the way it was run.
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Reach the reporter at sgreene6@asu.edu or follow @thesydneygreene on Twitter.
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