The safety trolley is a new system put in place by USGD, which transports students to various parking lots during the night. The trolley runs every 15 minutes and is available to any student with their ID present. (Photo by Tynin Fries)
A new trolley system has been implemented as part of an initiative started by Undergraduate Student Government Downtown President Frank Smith III to help students feel safer at night when trying to reach their destinations and to cut down on wait times for safety escort services at the ASU Downtown Campus.
The Sun Devil Safety Trolley began operating at the beginning of the semester and runs every 15 minutes between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. It started as a part of Smith’s re-election platform in the spring.
“Last year, this was something we were really talking about how to improve safety for students at the Downtown Campus,” Smith said. “We asked faculty for a safety van or golf cart for escorting students, but being in an urban environment, we couldn’t get a golf cart due to safety reasons.”
When the idea of having a golf cart didn’t work out because of traffic on East Van Buren Street and North Central Avenue, the USGD looked into different alternatives, Smith said.
“We looked at different transportation and the trolley was the most cost effective,” Smith said.
The service started at the beginning of the semester and is free for all ASU students who have a student identification card. It runs from ASU Mercado at the northeast corner of Fifth Street and Van Buren Street to the Fourth Avenue parking lot.
Zack Bunting, USGD Senate president, said funding for the trolley passed about a month ago and was something the executive board had been working on over the summer.
Starting the trolley service early in the semester was a priority for USGD, Bunting said.
“Some students who had night classes had to walk through downtown Phoenix, which can be a little sketchy, so we wanted to make sure this service was available as soon as possible,” he said.
What little feedback that has come in from students who have used the trolley has been mostly positive and getting the word out about the service is a priority for USGD and Smith.
“We’ve had a couple of students who like it but so far we’ve received some feedback about starting the trolley earlier and broadening the area of service,” Bunting said.
Participation from students and boosting the number of riders is key before the service will be expanded to other areas of campus.
“Before we expand hours or radius, we need enough participation, and once we see a larger number of students using the trolley we will begin looking into those things,” Bunting said.
USGD Senator Ryan Boyd said the service is in response to problems with the safety escort service in the past.
“With the Downtown campus, we have had delays with the safety escort service so the idea was if we had a trolley going around campus it would help more students feel safer and help them reach their destination faster,” he said.
Reaching out to students and letting them know the trolley is available is the main priority now, Boyd said.
“We’re still in the process of gathering feedback and are working on letting students know about this service,” he said.
Reach the reporter at jshanco2@asu.edu or follow on Twitter @joey_hancock
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