Our favorite new smartphone application is the "Ride Systems Real Time Shuttle Tracker."
SafeRide has greatly improved convenience and safety in on-campus transportation, but the occasional 10-minute wait for a shuttle outside at 1:30 in the morning defeats the purpose of the service.
The newly introduced SafeRide tracking technology, available online and as a downloadable application for the iPhone and Android, allows students to see where each SafeRide shuttle and BrownMed/Downcity Express Shuttle is on its route. If a student does not have access to a computer or smartphone, no problem — he or she can text the stop number to 41411 to receive an estimated time of arrival.
With a relatively compact campus and about four-fifths of students living on it, we appreciate that safe and convenient transportation is still a priority for Brown. What is exciting about the improvements to SafeRide is that they make the service more visible, more accessible and arguably safer than before. Not only do the improvements promote safety through reduced outdoor wait times, but they're also likely to increase usage of SafeRide services by students who may have found the service unpredictable in the past.
Shuttle-tracking applications are not the only convenience improvements to the SafeRide System. Brown OnCall has also seen changes to become more user-friendly. The service, for which all students living outside of the Brown shuttle route can register, guarantees transport from campus to a registered off-campus residence for anyone calling by 2:45 a.m. Though the lines can get busy during certain hours of the night, arguably too few students living off campus make use of the door-to-door service, important for safety in the areas beyond the reach of campus security patrols. Given the crime alerts sent out to the Brown community, it is surprising that students still choose to walk home alone at 2 a.m. For those who have been doing so out of impatience, it is worth noting that those registered for the onCall service are now able to reserve a ride online as well as by telephone.
Gone are the days of disgruntled decisions to walk home from the Rockefeller Library, only to see a shuttle zip past us, full of the more patient students who had been sitting across from us in the lobby. Admittedly, most of us like SafeRide not only because it protects us from crime — sometimes we just want to stay out of the cold. And, thankfully, the new tracking technology can make the difference between arriving at the always-chilly Friedman Study Center safe and warm and arriving shivering with our jeans glued to our legs.
Snug and dry, we commend the Brown Transportation Office for the proactive and need-aware improvements to Brown transportation services, and we hope and expect that students will continue to take advantage of them.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
