Within the next week, Uber rides will become cheaper for UF students.
A new UF Student Government program, scheduled to launch within the next week, will cover 50 percent of all registered UF students’ Uber rides. The program will cost about $46,000, said Ty Robare, the Action SG chairman.
The discount will cover rides on campus and off campus around Archer Road, 13th Street, 34th Street, University Avenue and Southwest Second Avenue. To get the discount, students will use unique access codes, which will be emailed out sometime next week, Robare said.
Students will be able to use the discount Wednesdays to Saturdays from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.
“We just wanted to give students the cheapest possible nighttime transportation service,” Robare said, adding that Uber was the only company to respond to the offer.
The discount first started as a 90-day pilot program in December 2014. After the pilot program, an initial version began in 2015 but was soon shut down during that year’s Fall semester because it failed to comply with the American Disabilities Act.
This time around, UF Transportation and Parking Services will hire a new driver, who will use an ADA accessible van, Robare said.
UF administration will pay for the driver’s salary, which Robare did not know.
“I’m excited to see it all come together,” he said.
Robare said SG felt the program was needed because DUI arrests, sexual assaults and drunk driving incidents are common concerns in Gainesville and other college towns.
That’s why UF anthropology freshman Elisabeth Rios-Brookes said she considered the discount a great initiative for her fellow students.
However, the 19-year-old does not plan on taking advantage of it because of personal issues with both organizations — a lack of representation in SG and what she called Uber’s “absolutely disgusting” support of President Donald Trump.
“It’s great that they’re giving discounts,” Rios-Brookes said. “I’ll just use Lyft or ride the bus instead.”
Contact Jimena Tavel at jtavel@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @taveljimena
A new UF Student Government program, scheduled to launch within the next week, will cover 50 percent of all registered UF students’ Uber rides. The discount will cover rides on campus and off campus around Archer Road, 13th Street, 34th Street, University Avenue and Southwest Second Avenue.
