The Department of Public and Environmental Safety (DPES) has this semester revamped its safety escort service, revising the program's name and the guidelines for its use.
GoSafe, as it is now called, has been designed as a free service for students concerned about their safety between destinations rather than for on?demand transportation, Director of Public and Environmental Safety Kevin Maguire said.
Results from a survey DPES distributed last year about GoSafe's predecessor, Safe Ride, showed that students thought of the service as an alternative to the Joey shuttle or a way to get to class when the weather is inclement.
Thirteen percent of students polled said they believed an escort should be provided for transportation to off?campus parties, 26 percent for rainy and snowy weather and 40 percent thought the service should be available to help them move large or heavy objects, according to Maguire.
"There was a fundamental misunderstanding about the former service," he said. "It became transportation?on?demand."
Maguire said that students who wanted free rides rather than Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) protection were causing longer wait times for those who called the service for its intended use.
"Folks were complaining that we were taking too long to service calls," Maguire said. "We needed to take action."
Further evidence of misuse, Maguire said, lies in the over 1,000 percent increase in escort requests over the last six years without any parallel increase in crime.
The redesigned service includes more specific guidelines and provisions for its users, including a designated service area that comprises the entire campus and Davis and Teele Squares.
Public Safety security officers, not TUPD officers, will drive the vans during peak hours on weekend evenings and act as walking escorts, according to TUPD Deputy Chief Mark Keith.
The change addresses perennial student concerns that calling for a ride from a TUPD officer while intoxicated would result in legal ramifications.
Having security officers run the service during weekend nights also increases the availability of TUPD officers for more crucial purposes, Maguire said.
"We wanted to be able to free up police officers to be able to respond to those more urgent emergency calls," he said.
Services will generally not be provided during the day, to groups of four or more or to locations outside of the designated service area.
Junior Clara Bieck agreed with the idea behind the new service, since students can use the Joey for transportation purposes during the year.
"But if they're going to vamp down the escort service, they should do something over the summer, like provide the Joey," she said.
Maguire believes that by renaming the program GoSafe, DPES is promoting the service as it should be used - as a helping hand to students who feel unsafe rather than as a free ride.
"It's our fundamental responsibility to help students if they don't feel safe moving about campus," Maguire said. "We want students who don't feel safe to give us a call. We think our students will make the right decision and provide for their own transportation if it's a matter of convenience."
