Every Fall we take our annual pilgrimage to Jacksonville to witness the “War for the Oar,” also known as Florida-Georgia. Each year, Gators get to experience and enjoy the city of Jacksonville but are usually confronted with difficulty getting around one of the nation’s largest cities by land area.
One of the main planks in my platform as student body president is to increase safety for students. After several years of partaking in the Florida-Georgia tradition, I have noticed that safe and reliable transportation is a major issue for students. Jacksonville’s current taxi system becomes easily overwhelmed, which often leaves students wandering through downtown Jacksonville, searching for a way home from EverBank Field or The Jacksonville Landing. Worse, a lack of alternative transportation options could lead to an increase in intoxicated drivers on the roads.
These Jacksonville transportation options could be dramatically improved as soon as next week, as the city council debates allowing the entrance of new ride technologies like Uber to Jacksonville.
Some of you may be familiar with Uber, which is a smartphone app that links riders to on-demand private rides, usually in classy black sedans or SUVs. I have personally traveled to several cities that feature Uber and can vouch for the ease of use, reliability and safety improvements over traditional transportation options. With Uber, the cars go to the riders, not the riders to the cars. No more roaming around downtown Jacksonville desperate for an open taxi.
Uber trips are backed by GPS to ensure fair billing, are linked to your credit card and allow passengers to split fares evenly among themselves. Want to let your friends know what time you’re going to arrive at the game? Use the Uber “Share Your ETA” option so they know exactly how long they will have to wait.
If the Jacksonville City Council is able to pass Ordinance 554 promptly, Uber’s services and others like them could potentially be available for public use in time for this year’s game. If you would like to see Uber and other rider apps available in Jacksonville for Florida-Georgia, I encourage you to email City Council President Bill Gulliford at Gulliford@coj.net.
Hope to see you soon in Jacksonville rolling around in safe and classy rides. Go Gators!
Christina Bonarrigo is UF’s Student Body President. This guest column ran on page 7 on 10/7/2013 under the headline "Uber would provide safe transportation in Jacksonville during Florida-Georgia"
