At the risk of sounding redundant, I am not going to retell any of my personal 4-RIDE disappointments. However, the article in which University Police Department Director Dolores Stafford states that she has received no complaints about 4-RIDE points to the obvious. No one can complain if no one knows where their complaints will be received. If 4-RIDE posted a comment line in each van, I think they would come to realize that the service it provides is not worthy of such praise.

With off-campus residence halls, I do not think it is unreasonable to expect an efficient, safe way to travel to and from campus. In all other circumstances, if 4-RIDE promises to provide a service, the service should do so in the manner that any outside business would have to. Our tuition money funds a service that leaves us waiting upwards of 30 minutes for a ride, if the van shows up at all. I realize there are specific hours in which 4-RIDE has high call volume, but that does not mean that the quality of service should be lowered. Why not allow some of the countless UPD Blazers to provide this service during peak hours?

The high call volume will not go away; therefore, it needs to be addressed so that students are not left standing around waiting for a van that never shows up. Basically it is like a friend of mine says – you can call for Chinese food and 4-RIDE at the same time and the delivery man will beat 4-RIDE more times than not. In fact, your leftovers will probably be cold in the fridge by the time the van pulls up.

-Meaghan Harbaugh
sophomore