Security Escort Services might be
replaced with an expanded $600,000
campus busing system, if some Student
Government Association members get
their way.
The proposed system, VCU SafeRide,
is supported by Student Body President
Jessica Lee, who said the service would
cost $500,000 more than Security Escort
Services. The student activity fee, currently
$45, might be increased to partially
pay for the service, she said.
“We want it to run more like a
standard route on campus,” Lee said.
“I would rather have something that
serves us all.”
A student who needs a ride to or from
campus can currently call a Security
Escort Services phone number between
5 p.m. and 8 a.m. to request pickup
by one of three security escort vans.
The van comes directly to where the
student is located instead of a bus stop.
The van then deposits the student at an
on- or off-campus destination within the
service range.
This range covers from the campus
north to Interstate 95, south to the James
River, east to 21st Street and west to
Lombardy Street.
Lee said the security escort service is
overtaxed, inefficient and does not extend
far enough into local neighborhoods.
“We have 30,000 VCU students, and
usually there’s only two vans on campus,”
Lee said. “If people are concerned about
safety, I don’t think it’s a good answer,
because when people are waiting on the
front porch for half an hour, they don’t
know when the van is going to come.”
Lee said students would be safer waiting
at a bus stop, because they know a
bus would come in less than 15 minutes.
The security escort services’ van is often
late because it picks up and drops off
students at random locations, she said.
VCU Police Chief Willie Fuller, who
oversees the service, said although some
students might tell horror stories of
hour-long waits, the average wait time
is actually about 11 to 15 minutes.
“The problem is that waiting for 15
minutes in the city at nighttime, especially
for a female student, can often … feel
uncomfortable,” Fuller said.
Three years ago, the SGA released a
policy report outlining the student-suggested
improvements for Security Escort
Services.
“We have been working tirelessly on
it ever since,” said SGA Vice President
Emad Maghsoudi. “Unfortunately, with
government, all great ideas die somehow,
someway. It’s a very slow process.”
VCU SafeRide would transport students
around campus, but Lee said
she wants the service to extend past
Lombardy into the Fan neighborhood.
A meeting to discuss the specifics of the
plan will take place Thursday, Oct. 4, at 4
p.m. in the Canal Room at the University
Student Commons. The meeting is open
to the public.
Lee said the student senate is tentatively
set to vote Monday on legislation
supporting the proposal.
Student government Sen. Steven
Latimer does not support the planned
system, because he thinks the campus
connector bus, a Greater Richmond
Transit Company service, adequately
transports students to and from the
Monroe Park and MCV campuses. Unlike
the proposed transit system, which would
also be a GRTC-contracted service, the
campus connector’s route is restricted
to just a few stops between the two
campuses.
“I’m happy with the campus connector.
I think it does a good job,” Latimer
said. “You’ll get services for the money
you put in, but I don’t think it’s really
necessary.”
City Council President William J.
Pantele proposed a system similar to the
VCU SafeRide, the downtown circulator,
to GRTC. The circulator would transport
students to and from Churchill, Shockhoe
Bottom, the Fan, Harrison Street, the
MCV Campus and Carytown every 10
minutes until 1:30 a.m.
Though Lee likes the idea of the
downtown circulator, the student government
is not going to wait for an improved
system students need now, she said.
“We can’t wait for our escort system
to be fixed,” Lee said. “We cannot wait
for all the political wrangling.”
If VCU SafeRide were approved by
Parking and Transportation Services, she
said, it would take about eight weeks for
buses to begin routes.
According to the Facebook.com Web
page for the Support for the Circulator
Initiative, the downtown circulator
would mostly be funded by parking
ticket fees and additional state and
city transportation funds. Rides would
be free or would cost a 25 cent fee.
Trolleys, small double-decker buses and
hybrid minibuses have been proposed as
transportation options.
More information about the proposed
transit system is available at the Commons
in Room 2228