SafeRide History

SafeRide officially began on March 3, 1986, under its original name: SecureCab. When the program started, its hours were midnight to 3:00 a.m. Monday through Thursday and 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. Friday through Sunday. The program's intent was to decrease drunk driving and to provide a safe way home for all students. KU on Wheels contracted the City Cab Company to provide the service, and the initial cost of the program was under $4,000.

However, in December of 1987, the program had to be cancelled when the new vendor, Union Cab Company, raised the fare from $2.50 to $4.00. Student Senate acted quickly to bring back the popular service, but brought it back in a different form. SecureCab became Secure Shuttle, and the service changed from a demand-response system, where students called in to schedule rides, to a fixed-route system. Secure Shuttle had 11 stops on campus and downtown. Sunday through Wednesday, it stopped every hour from 11:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., and Thursday through Saturday, it stopped every half an hour from 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Unfortunately, Secure Shuttle was not as popular, and because of low ridership and high costs, Student Senate had to discontinue the service in February of 1989.

SafeRide, in its present form, started later in the Spring of 1989.