Late last month, the Daily Nebraskan first reported on the overuse of the 475-RIDE program amongst University of Nebraska-Lincoln students. In its Oct. 21 meeting, ASUN External Vice President Amanda Crook first mentioned the problem, explaining that student abuse was creating problems for the program. Two weeks later, Internal Vice President Brian Coburn published a letter in the Daily Nebraskan, which gave students more information about the problem.
The shortest way of stating the problem is this: Over four years, a UNL student contributes $4.48 to the program. But one ride home typically costs $15.
It’s not hard, then, to imagine the problems created by excessive and abusive use of the system.
Of course, the system itself is a wonderful, useful thing for students at UNL. It was started more than 10 years ago after UNL student Laura Cockson was killed by a drunk driver, and it has provided valuable emergency transportation to UNL students ever since.
But rampant abuse of the system during this semester has created a rapidly shrinking budget for the program.
To address the problem, ASUN has called a town hall meeting to be held tonight in the City Union Auditorium. As Coburn explained in his letter on Nov. 3, “We hope this event will allow each of you to communicate your situations, your needs and your concerns so that if there is a solution available, we can help.”
We’re pleased to join ASUN in promoting this meeting. The ongoing problems with 475-RIDE need to be addressed as soon as possible. If they are not, the program will run out of funding, and this valuable service could be lost.
For the sake of past victims of drunk drivers like Laura Cockson, that can’t happen. But that means we have to find a solution to the current problem. And that’s why you should attend tonight’s town hall meeting.
opinion@dailynebraskan.com
3 comments